Posted On August 10, 2022 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
August 10, 2022 – Acorn Financial Services, Inc. reported a data breach after the company was targeted in a recent cybersecurity attack. As a result of the breach, the name, address, date of birth, driver’s license number, financial account number, Social Security number, and other information related to the accounts of certain individuals was compromised. Acorn Financial sent out data breach letters to those individuals whose information was affected by the breach.
The data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. are going to begin interviewing victims of the breach to determine what damages they sustained and what legal claims may be available to them. If you recently received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH from Acorn Financial Services, Inc., contact us at (866) 778-5500 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential contact form for a free case evaluation.
Below is a portion of the letter that Acorn Financial Services, Inc. sent to individuals affected by the data breach:
Dear [Redacted],
We are writing to notify you that Acorn Financial Services (“Acorn”) experienced a security incident that may have involved some of your personal information. Acorn is an entity not affiliated with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (“Royal Alliance”) but whose financial professionals are registered with Royal Alliance for the sale of securities products and provision of financial advice. This letter explains the incident, outlines the measures we have taken, and provides steps you can take in response.
What Happened?
On April 22, 2022, we launched an investigation into suspicious activity originating from an employee’s email account. As soon as we became aware of the activity, we took immediate steps to secure the account and launched an investigation. Our investigation determined that an unauthorized individual accessed an Acorn’s employee’s email account. While we have no evidence that your specific information was accessed or misused, we are notifying you out of an abundance of caution. On a positive note, this incident did not affect Royal Alliance computer systems and there is no impact to these associated systems or data. Furthermore, your advisor has experienced no disruptions in servicing your account.
What Information Was Involved?
The account contained an email or attachment that may have included your information, including your name, address, date of birth, driver’s license number, financial account number, Social Security number, and other information related to the accounts we service on your behalf.
What We Are Doing.
Your confidence and trust are important to us, and we regret any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. To further protect your information, we have implemented additional measures to enhance our existing security protocols and are re-educating our staff for awareness on these types of incidents. Additionally, we have arranged to provide identity monitoring at no cost to you for 12 months through Kroll. The identity monitoring services we are making available to you include credit monitoring, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration. For more information on identity theft prevention and Kroll Identity Monitoring, including instructions on how to activate your complimentary membership, please visit the below website and see the additional information provided with this letter.
Visit [Redacted] to activate and take advantage of your identity monitoring services.
You have until [Redacted] to activate your identity monitoring services.
Membership Number: [Redacted]
What You Can Do.
We encourage you to remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements and credit reports for any unauthorized activity over the next 12 to 24 months. If you see unauthorized charges or activity, please contact your financial institution immediately. For more information, including some additional steps you can take to help protect your information, please see the pages that follow this letter.
For More Information.
We regret this incident occurred and apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions, please call (855) 544-2815, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Eastern Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.
