UnitedHealthcare reveals data breach, says some NC residents may be affected

MINNEAPOLIS (WTVD) -- UnitedHealthcare said Friday that a data breach may affect some North Carolina residents.

The "data security incident" involves patients' personal health information.

UHC said the personal information breached varied but may have included a combination of names, member ID numbers, plan types, and county and state of residency.

The healthcare giant said the incident did not involve the disclosure of Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers or any financial account information.

UHC said that on Dec. 29, it discovered an unauthorized third party was able to access a UHC broker portal and notified law enforcement.

On Feb. 3, UHC said it confirmed that the hacker(s) accessed information from the portal while trying to divert money intended for agents and/or brokers. UHC determined that certain personal information was breached between Dec. 1 and Jan. 25.

"UHC is committed to protecting our members' and brokers' information and maintaining the integrity of our systems," the healthcare company said in a release. "UHC placed additional safeguards on the UHC broker portal to help minimize the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future."

People who were affected are being notified. Any suspicious activity should immediately be reported to their health plan or other relevant institution.

A toll-free hotline has been established to help answer any questions and can be reached at (800) 669-1812 between 8 a.m. and - 8 p.m. Eastern Time from Monday through Friday.