Walgreens Impacted By Potential Compromise of Customer Data

Jul 29, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Walgreens Sends Letters Regarding Potential Compromise Of Patient Data Which Occurred Between May 26, 2020 And June 5, 2020

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that Walgreens has sent letters to consumers regarding the potential compromise of certain customer information.

According to one of four sample breach notification letters Walgreens filed with the State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General:

[s]ometime between May 26 and June 5, 2020, various groups of individuals broke into multiple Walgreens stores and forced entry into the secured pharmacy at select locations, including your preferred Walgreens. Among the many items stolen were certain items containing health-related information —such as filled prescriptions waiting for customer pick up and paper records. This included a very limited number of hard drives that were attached to stolen cash registers. These hard drives contained information about certain recent pharmacy purchases completed at that cash register. One pharmacy automation device that stored prescription labeling information for a short time period was also involved.

Between May 26 and June 5, Walgreens discovered customer information was impacted. [Walgreens] later determined that one or more of the items described above may have contained your information. [Walgreens] wanted to alert [customers] to this fact. [Emphasis added.]

According to Walgreens, the compromised information may have included one or more of the following types of personal information: first and last name; address; telephone number; date of birth and/or age; clinical information (e.g., medication name, strength, quantity, and description); prescription number; prescriber name; health plan name and group number; vaccination information, including eligibility information; e-mail address; Balance Rewards Number; in addition to Photo ID Number- driver’s license, state ID, military ID, or passport (e.g., pseudoephedrine purchases). 

The sample breach notification letters Walgreens filed with the Office of the Attorney General can be viewed by clicking either Walgreens sample notification letter one, letter two, letter three or letter four. 

Have You Been Impacted by A Data Breach?

If so, please either contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form on the right or e-mail [email protected] for a free, no-obligation case evaluation of your facts to determine whether your privacy rights have been violated and whether there is a basis for a data privacy class action.

Examples of the type of relief sought by data privacy class actions, include, but are not limited to, reimbursement of identity theft losses and of out-of-pocket costs paid by data breach victims for protective measures such as credit monitoring services, credit reports, and credit freezes; compensation for time spent responding to the breach; imposition of credit monitoring services and identity theft insurance, paid for by the defendant company; and improvements to the defendant company’s data security systems.

Data privacy class actions are brought on a contingent-fee basis; thus, plaintiffs and the class members do not pay out-of-pocket attorney’s fees or litigation costs.  Subject to court approval, attorney’s fees and litigation costs are derived from the recovery obtained for the class.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

Banned Robocall Scammers Targeted Cash-Strapped Consumers

Jul 24, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Scammers Who Used Robocalls To Target Cash-Strapped Consumers Banned From Selling Debt Relief Services and Telemarketing

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that on July 24, 2020, the FTC announced that the operators of a Florida-based company that allegedly defrauded financially-distressed and often older-adult consumers with deceptive robocalls claiming they could save them money by reducing the interest rates on their credit cards has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that their conduct was both deceptive and illegal.

The proposed court order resolving the FTC’s allegations bans the defendants from selling debt relief services and from all telemarketing, based on their violations of the FTC Act and the Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule.

According to the FTC’s complaint against 11 entities and Raymond Gonzalez, Carlos S. Guerrero, and Joshua Hernandez, jointly doing business first as CSG Solutions and then as Second Choice Horizon, the defendants ran a maze of interrelated operations targeting financially distressed consumers—often seniors—with offers of bogus credit card interest rate reduction services. In the calls, the defendants deceptively told consumers that for a fee they could lower their credit card interest rates to zero percent permanently for the life of the debt.

The complaint alleged that consumers did not get a permanent reduction to zero percent on their credit card interest rates, nor did they typically save thousands of dollars on their debt. Instead, the defendants obtained promotional or “teaser” zero percent interest rates that only lasted for a limited time, after which the interest rate increased significantly. The FTC also alleged the defendants failed to tell consumers that they would have to pay substantial additional bank or transaction fees.

The complaint further alleged that the defendants caused illegal telemarketing calls, including robocalls, to go out to numerous consumers, including many whose phone numbers were on the National Do Not Call Registry. Under the guise of confirming consumers’ identities, the defendants allegedly tricked them into providing their personal financial information, including their Social Security and credit card numbers. Finally, in many instances, the FTC alleged consumers who did not buy the services later discovered the defendants had applied for one or more credit cards without their knowledge or consent.

The proposed order settling the FTC charges permanently bans the defendants from, among other things: 1) any involvement in the sale of debt-relief products or services; 2) all telemarketing; 3) applying for any product or service on behalf of a consumer without their knowledge and consent or if the defendants know or have reason to believe any of the information on the application is false or misleading; 4) obtaining a cash advance on a consumer’s credit card or submitting billing information for payment without prior approval, and 5) using or benefitting from any consumer information collected through the scheme.  Finally, the order imposes a judgment of $13,881,865 against the defendants, which will be partially suspended based on their inability to pay. The amount each defendant pays will be based on the assets they are required to liquidate.

Source: Federal Trade Commission – FTC.gov

Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?

If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.