TransUnion Breach Exposes Millions—Your Identity is Up for Grabs
By: Jim Stickley and Tina Davis
November 24, 2025
TransUnion has confirmed a serious data breach affecting about 4.4 million people, stemming from a cyberattack on July 28, 2025, which was discovered two days later. The breach did not compromise TransUnion’s main credit reporting systems, but attackers gained access to a third-party application tied to U.S. consumer support operations.
The exposed data includes full names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, along with billing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and in some cases, the details of support messages or transaction reasons. Because Social Security numbers were part of the haul, this incident raises the risk of identity theft and fraud for years to come.
What to do if you’re impacted:
- Enroll in the free 24-month credit monitoring and fraud assistance TransUnion is offering through Cyberscout. Just keep in mind it won’t keep someone from opening accounts with your information. It will alert you if someone tries. Then it’s up to you to make the calls to stop it.
- Place a fraud alert or freeze on your credit reports with all three major bureaus to prevent new accounts from being opened in your name. If you freeze your credit, which is recommended, you can unfreeze it and refreeze it at no charge, should you need to get access to your credit reports.
- Monitor your financial accounts closely and watch for phishing attempts that may use information that’s specific. Don’t wait to do this monthly. It’s easy enough to check more often using your financial institutions’ websites and apps. If anything is suspicious, call and deal with it right away.
- Update passwords, enable multifactor authentication (MFA), and check your credit reports regularly for suspicious activity. You can get a free report every year from each of the three major bureaus. Do this every four months to keep a better eye on it. If something isn’t right, call and correct it.
Time to take action now
Unlike stolen credit card numbers, which can be changed, Social Security numbers and dates of birth are permanent identifiers. You can technically change the SSN, but it is not a simple process and will likely take years to sort out. Because they are more permanent, criminals can use them long after the breach, which makes vigilance protecting your information critical.