Watch out for a letter from Change Healthcare

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Many in the Ozarks have been wondering if the letter from Change Healthcare is real. It is.

The letter is a notice of a data breach. CHC works for doctors, health insurance plans and other health companies. The letter says that in February, CHC found activity on its computer system that occurred without permission. In March, CHC learned that a cybercriminal was able to view and make copies of some data, including name, address, date of birth, phone number and email. The hackers also took information about health insurance data, such as test results, treatments and payment information.

What should the patient do?

Check your credit report. Visit annualcreditreport.com. You can get a credit monitoring service. You may have to pay for it, but there are free services online, and your credit card probably offers it, too.

Freeze your credit. Freezing your credit is one way to be proactive. Data breaches seem to be popping up all the time. Freezing your credit is one way to prevent people from taking that information and applying for credit in your name. If you are happy with your home and your spouse, freeze it. This means if you don’t plan on opening a new line of credit in the near future, freeze the line of credit. This prevents scammers from trying to open a credit card in your name.”

“It’s something that anyone can do. It doesn’t cost anything,” said Pamela Hernandez of the Better Business Bureau. “It’s a great thing you can do to give yourself peace of mind.”

Freeze or lift a freeze on your credit report for free by contacting each of the three major credit reporting agencies:

You can apply online, by phone or by mail. Remember that if you decide to buy a car or apply for a loan, you will need to unfreeze that lock.

You can place a free fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before opening new accounts.

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