Hagerty Insurance Agency hagerty.com Hagerty Insurance Agency data breach: what happened and what to do
On February 2, 2021, Hagerty saw a spike in requests to its online Instant Quote tool. Automated bots had submitted fake quotes to pull driver's license numbers. Maine's breach filing lists 149,760 people affected, and Hagerty offered 12 months of Experian IdentityWorks.
View all 13,177 breaches- Breach date
- 2 Feb 2021
- Affected
- 149,760
- Data exposed
- Driver's licenses
- Last updated
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
What happened
Hagerty Insurance Agency, LLC is a collector car insurance agency. In its notice, the company says its web team saw a spike in requests to its "Instant Quote" feature on February 2, 2021. The activity looked suspicious, and early checks showed that automated bots were submitting fake quotes.
On February 16, Hagerty concluded this was probably part of a wider fraud scheme aimed at online quote systems across many insurers and agencies. The company says it immediately deployed tools to detect, block and prevent bot activity in its quote system.
Sources checked: maine.gov, oag.ca.gov, consumer.ftc.gov
Last verified against the official page:
What was exposed
The notice says the affected information was driver's license numbers. A law firm's summary of the filing adds that date of birth could also be obtained by someone who entered basic details such as a name. Check your own letter for what applied to you.
Driver's license numbers are useful to fraudsters who file fake unemployment claims, open accounts or build convincing identity documents.
How many people
Maine's attorney general listing records 149,760 people affected in total, with 6 of them Maine residents. Hagerty began notifying consumers on April 9, 2021 and offered 12 months of Experian IdentityWorks. The California Attorney General's list dates the report to March 23, 2021.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus
A credit freeze is free and stops anyone opening new credit in your name. Place one at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; the FTC explains how. A driver's license number plus a name is enough to start a fraudulent application.
- 2
Use the free credit monitoring if you still can
Hagerty offered 12 months of free credit monitoring. The FTC recommends taking such offers. If you kept your letter, check whether the enrollment deadline has passed, and if it has, a credit freeze still protects you.
- 3
Watch for fake unemployment or benefits claims
A letter from a state agency about a benefit you didn't claim can mean someone used your details. Report it to the agency and at IdentityTheft.gov.
- 4
Expect phishing that mentions the breach
Insurance quote and renewal scams may use your real details. Don't click links or call numbers in unexpected messages. Go to the company's own website instead, and report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- 5
Report misuse and watch your reports
Check your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com. If someone uses your details, report it at IdentityTheft.gov to get a recovery plan.
Official filings
- California Attorney General , filed 23 Mar 2021
Timeline
-
The breach happened
-
Reported to the California Attorney General
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the Hagerty breach?
Hagerty mailed notices from April 9, 2021. If you got one, your driver's license number was among those obtained through the quote tool.
What was exposed?
The notice says driver's license numbers. A law firm's summary of the filing also mentions dates of birth.
How many people were affected?
Maine's filing lists 149,760 people in total.
Should I freeze my credit?
It's a sensible step after any driver's license leak. A freeze is free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Sources
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.
