T-Mobile's 37 million customers' data breached, high costs likely

US wireless carrier, T-Mobile, announced on Thursday that it was looking into a data breach affecting 37 million postpaid and prepaid accounts and anticipated high costs due to the incident, according to a Reuters report.

T-Mobile is the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States, with over 110 million members.

The business said it discovered fraudulent activity on January 5 and stopped it in a day and that no sensitive data, including financial information, was compromised.

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Nevertheless, some client data was gathered, including names, billing addresses, emails, and phone numbers of T-Mobile customers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also launched an investigation into the company's data leak.

"Our investigation is still ongoing, but the malicious activity appears to be fully contained at this time, and there is currently no evidence that the bad actor was able to breach or compromise our systems or our network," said the company.

While Reuters reported FCC or T-Mobile did not respond to a request for comment, the company's stock fell 2 per cent after market close.

Earlier this month, The Polish division of T-Mobile had been charged by the regulator for misleading advertisements about a free mobile data offer. The company might be fined 10 per cent of its annual revenue if found guilty.

The slogan "1200 GB free for a year" from T-Mobile Polska was inaccurate, according to UOKiK, the Polish regulator.
UOKik said 100 GB Internet packages are given each month for a maximum of 12 months as long as the customer regularly renews the deal for a price of at least $7.99.

"After reading the advertisement, the consumer should have a general, but the realistic, idea of ​​the presented offer," the head of UOKiK Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement, according to a Reuters report.

"The T-Mobile promotional slogan may suggest receiving a one-time data package of 1200 GB, and not a dozen or so smaller packages, provided that the fee is paid periodically," added the UoKik head.

But the campaign, according to T-Mobile's Polish unit, was warmly accepted by customers and had a pay-as-you-go offer construction.

"Nevertheless, if, in the opinion of UOKiK, the communication in the offer was not clear enough, we are ready to improve it to ensure the satisfaction of as many customers as possible," reported Reuters, quoting the company's statement.

"In the coming days, we will provide UOKiK with materials related to the promotion of the offer, and we will cooperate with the office to improve the communication of the offer to one that leaves no doubt as to its terms."

(With inputs from agencies)

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