Nearly 11 Million Customer Records Lost by Japanese Power Company

A power company contractor in Kyushu, Japan discovered a storage drive was missing on May

26. The drive contained personal information belonging to nearly 11 million customers. The company stated that sensitive financial information like bank accounts or credit card numbers was not on the lost drive. If you are a customer of this Kyushu power company, your name, address, and basic account details may have been on the lost storage drive. The company has not specified exactly what personal information was included. Customers outside of the Kyushu region of Japan are not affected by this incident. If you are a customer of this power company, here is what you should do right now.
27. Watch for any unexpected emails or phone calls claiming to be from the power company. Scammers often use leaked information to make fake messages look real.
28. Do not click links in emails about your power account. Instead, log into your account directly by typing the company website into your browser.
29. Monitor your power bills for any unusual charges or account changes.
30. If you receive suspicious contact, report it to the power company directly using a phone number from your official bill. This incident reminds us that companies hold our personal information, but we cannot always control how they protect it. Make different passwords for every important account so that if one company loses your data, criminals cannot access your other accounts. Be skeptical of unexpected emails or calls, even if they mention personal details about you. When in doubt, contact the company directly using contact information you find yourself, not what someone gives you in a message.