Ahold Delhaize USA Services reported, personal information of 95,000 Mainers who are current or former employees of subsidiary Hannaford have been affected by a data breach described by the company as an "external system breach (hacking)" that occurred Nov 5, 2024 and was discovered Nov. 6, according to the required breach notification filed with the Maine Attorney General's Office June 26.

Last November, the company issued a press release saying it detected a "cybersecurity issue within its U.S. network."At the time, it reported taking some of its systems offline including some pharmacies and e-commerce platforms.

A sample of the notification letter being sent to those affected explained the company detected a "cybersecurity issue involving unauthorized access to some of our internal U.S. business systems" on Nov. 6 and was able to determine that a third party accessed information from those files over a two-day period, Nov. 5-6. The company explained it worked with cybersecurity experts and federal law enforcement.

In total, the breach affected more than 2.2 million people and may have included name, contact information, date of birth, numbers from government issued identification, financial account information, health information or other information related to employment.

Credit monitoring is offered through Experian IdentityWorks Services. Additional information can be obtained at www.adusaservices.com or by calling 1-833-931-3792, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm Central Time (excluding major U.S. holidays).

If I receive a notice that my information was breached, what should I do?

1. Consider placing a security freeze on your credit file. A security freeze is designed to prevent potential creditors from accessing your credit file at the consumer reporting agencies without your consent. Unlike a fraud alert, you must place a security freeze on your credit file at each consumer reporting agency individually. There is no charge to place or lift a security freeze. For more information on security freezes, you may contact the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies below and say "security freeze" when prompted.

-          Equifax Security Freeze:  Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services.  1-800-685-1111

-          Experian Security Freeze: Experian.com/help. 1-888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)

-          TransUnion Security Freeze: TransUnion.com/credit-help. 1-888-909-8872

There is no charge for the freeze. You will be sent a letter with a personal identification number- PIN or password. Keep it somewhere safe so you can use it if you need to remove or list the freeze.

2. If your Social Security number or date of birth was exposed, contact the Social Security Administration immediately at its  toll free main number (1-800-772-1213.)  Explain that your Social Security Number was affected and that you are concerned about identity theft. If you receive Social Security benefits, you may be able to place a “block” on your information to make sure a thief does not redirect your benefit to another address.

3. You are entitled to one free copy of your credit report every year from each of the three credit bureaus. To order, call 1-877-322-8228 or visit www.annualcreditreport.com. When you receive the reports, review them carefully for any account information that is not familiar to you. Contact the credit reporting agency for more information if you believe this may have been identity theft

4. Review bank statements carefully and, if your bank offers the service, place an alert on accounts to notify you of account activity.

5. If you find  you have been a victim of identity theft, file a report with your local law enforcement agency. Ask for a copy of the report and keep it for your records. You may need to provide creditors that have been defrauded with a copy of the report.

Jane Carpenter is a member of the FBI InfraGard organization, has trained law enforcement in identity theft and data breach response and has helped create laws that assist victims of the crimes.