Kingston Police warn of scams related to Capital One data breach

After Capital One announced last week that they had experienced a data breach in March, local police are advising of a number of possible scams that claim to be related to the breach.

Capital One confirmed last week that the March data breach exposed the data of nearly 106 million bank customers or credit card applicants. The company said they will notify all customers and applicants whose data was exposed, however, Kingston Police is advising citizens to be wary of any communications related to the data breach. This includes phone calls, emails, or text messages regarding the data breach or personal information.

Kingston Police are advising the public to look out for the following things:

• Phishing emails that claim to be from your financial institution where you can “check if your data was compromised”
• Phishing emails that claim there is a problem with a credit card, your credit record, or other personal financial information
• Calls from scammers that claim they are from your bank, a credit union, or a government institution
• Any unexpected communication requesting personal information, such as your Social Security Number
• Indications that your identity was stolen, such as fraudulent charges on your credit card or notifications that your credit score has lowered