Nebraska Insurer, Ameritas: Data Breach Possibly Exposed Customers’ Info

Lincoln, Nebraska-based insurance and finance company Ameritas has notified customers that their personal information may have been exposed in a data breach.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the company said in a letter dated July 23 that several of its employees fell victim to phishing scams in May and early June that tricked them into providing their email credentials. The company says it has taken action to address the exposure, including disabling the unauthorized access and deploying a mandatory company-wide password reset.

Information that may have been exposed includes names, home and email addresses, Social Security numbers and policy numbers.

An Ameritas spokeswoman says the company is not publicly disclosing how many people have been affected until final notification of regulatory authorities.

The company has hired Kroll Associates, a risk-consulting firm, to investigate the incident. Ameritas also is providing identity and credit-monitoring services free for one year to affected customers.