163,440 Americans Now at Risk of Fraud – Names, Social Security Numbers, Financial Account Numbers and More Potentially Exposed

The personal information of 163,440 Americans is at risk after a hacker hit a Georgia-based hospital with a ransomware attack.

The legal representatives of Wayne Memorial Hospital (WMH) in Jesup, Georgia, say an unauthorized third party gained access to the healthcare facility’s network in May and June of 2024.

The hacker encrypted some of WMH’s data and left a ransomware note on the hospital’s network, according to a notification sent to the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

The hospital’s lawyers note the hacker could have accessed names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, state identification numbers, user identifications, passwords, financial account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, credit card expiration dates, CVV codes, Medicare or Medicaid numbers, health insurance member numbers, healthcare provider numbers, diagnoses, medical histories, treatment information, prescription information, lab test results and lab images.

“WMH does not have any evidence that the unauthorized actor misused anyone’s personal information for identity theft or fraud in connection with this event. Based on the information available to us at this time, it appears that the unauthorized actor’s primary motivation was an attempt to extort a ransom payment from WMH.”

The hospital says it is offering 12 months of credit monitoring and identity theft protection to the 34 Maine residents who were impacted, though it remains unclear if that offer extends to victims in other states.