Coke County Texas

Notification of Data Security Incident

October 3, 2022 – On or around January 7, 2022, Coke County (the “County”) became aware of unusual activity in its email environment. In response, the County immediately took steps to secure its digital environment and engaged a leading cybersecurity firm to assist with an investigation. This investigation determined that one employee email account may have been accessed without authorization. The County then engaged a vendor to complete a comprehensive review of the potentially affected data, and determined the personal information of some individuals may have been involved in this incident. The County took steps to gather contact information in order to provide notification to potentially affected individuals. The County was limited in its ability to complete the search, but worked diligently to exhaust all resources in gathering address information.

The information involved in the incident varies but may have included the following: name, date of birth, address, Social Security number, driver’s license, and medical diagnosis and/or treatment information.

On October 3, 2022, notification letters were sent to the potentially affected individuals for whom the County was able to identify addresses. The letters include information about this incident and about steps that potentially affected individuals can take to monitor and help protect their personal information. The County has established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident and to address related concerns. The call center can be reached at 1-800-939-4170, Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 8:00pm Central Time. In addition, as a precaution, the County is offering complimentary identity protection services through IDX to those individuals whose protected information was potentially affected in connection with this incident.

Due to the limited availability of address information, some potentially impacted individuals have not been sent letters. If you believe your information may have been maintained by the Coke County Sheriff’s Office, and you did not receive a notification letter about this incident, please call 1-800-939-4170 for further information or to enroll in complimentary identify monitoring services.

The privacy and protection of private information is a top priority for the County, and we deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause.

While we are not aware of the misuse or attempted misuse of any potentially affected individual’s information, we are providing the following information to help individuals wanting more information about steps that they can take to protect themselves and their personal information.

What steps can I take to protect my personal information?

• Please notify your financial institution immediately if you detect any suspicious activity on any of your accounts, including unauthorized transactions or new accounts opened in our name that you do not recognize. You should also promptly report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incidents of identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities.
• You can request a copy of your credit report, free of charge, directly from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To do so, free of charge once every 12 months, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-833-365-2599. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies is listed at the bottom of this page.
• You can take steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission to protect yourself from identify theft. The FTC’s website offers helpful information at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.
• Additional information on what you can do to better protect yourself is included in your notification letter.

How do I obtain a copy of my credit report?

You can obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, directly from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies.  To order your credit report, free of charge once every 12 months, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Use the following contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies:

How do I put a fraud alert on my account?

You may consider placing a fraud alert on your credit report. This fraud alert statement informs creditors to possible fraudulent activity within your report and requests that your creditor contact you prior to establishing any accounts in your name. To place a fraud alert on your credit report, contact Equifax, Experian or TransUnion and follow the Fraud Victims instructions. To place a fraud alert on your credit accounts, contact your financial institution or credit provider. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies is included in the letter and is also listed at the bottom of this page.

How do I put a security freeze on my credit reports?

You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. A security freeze is intended to prevent credit, loans and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To place a security freeze on your credit report, you need to make a request to each consumer reporting agency. You may make that request by certified mail, overnight mail, or regular stamped mail, or online by following the instructions found at the websites listed below. You will need to provide the following information when requesting a security freeze (note that if you are making a request for your spouse, this information must be provided for him/her as well): (1) full name, with middle initial and any suffixes; (2) Social Security number; (3) date of birth; (4) address. You may also be asked to provide other personal information such as your email address, a copy of a government-issued identification card, and  a copy of a recent utility bill or bank or insurance statement. It is essential that each copy be legible, display your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue. There is no charge to place, lift, or remove a freeze. You may obtain a security freeze by contacting any one or more of the following national consumer reporting agencies:

What should I do if my family member was involved in the incident and is deceased?

You may choose to notify the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union, and request they flag the deceased credit file. This will prevent the credit file information from being used to open credit. To make this request, mail a copy of your family member’s death certificate to each company at the addresses below.

What should I do if my minor child or protected person’s information was involved in the incident?

You can request that each of the three national credit reporting agencies perform a manual search for a minor’s or protected person’s Social Security number to determine if there is an associated credit report. Copies of identifying information for the minor and parent/guardian may be required, including birth or adoption certificate, Social Security card and government issued identification card. If a credit report exists, you should request a copy of the report and immediately report any fraudulent accounts to the credit reporting agency. You can also report any misuse of a minor’s information to the FTC at https://www.identitytheft.gov/. For more information about Child Identity Theft and instructions for requesting a manual Social Security number search, visit the FTC website:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0040-child-identity-theft. Contact information for the three national credit reporting agencies may be found above.