Total Wireless totalwireless.com Total Wireless data breach: what happened and what to do
Total Wireless, a Verizon-owned prepaid carrier, told customers that images of government IDs submitted for a promotion were accessed through its identity-verification vendor, Veriff. The access began around November 18, 2025. Some records also had names, addresses and dates of birth.
View all 13,115 breaches- Breach date
- 18 Nov 2025
- Made public
- 9 Jan 2026
- Data exposed
- Government issued IDs, Names, Physical addresses, Dates of birth
- Last updated
What happened
Total Wireless is a prepaid phone brand owned by Verizon. It notified customers and state attorneys general in January 2026 that an unauthorized party had accessed data held by Veriff, a company that verifies identities for Total Wireless. The access started around November 18, 2025, and Veriff detected it on December 10, 2025, according to CyberInsider. Total Wireless says its own systems weren't affected.
What was exposed
The affected files were images of government-issued IDs that customers uploaded to verify themselves for a Total Wireless promotion. In some cases the records also included names, postal addresses and dates of birth. Reports so far don't mention Social Security numbers or bank details.
An ID photo is more useful to a criminal than a single leaked field. It shows your name, birth date, address and ID number together, which is what fake account applications ask for.
What Total Wireless is doing
The company offers affected customers one year of Experian IdentityWorks credit monitoring and identity restoration. Lawsuits have been filed over the incident, and those are allegations only.
What this means for you
If you uploaded an ID for a Total Wireless promotion around then, assume that image is out. You can't recall a photo of your license, so the work is watching for misuse: new accounts, loans or phone lines in your name.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Read your notice and claim the monitoring
If you got a letter or email from Total Wireless, enroll in the free Experian IdentityWorks offer before the deadline in it.
- 2
Freeze your credit
Place a free credit freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It blocks most new accounts opened with a stolen ID.
- 3
Watch for new phone lines and accounts
Check your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com, and ask your carrier to add a PIN or number lock so nobody can port your number.
- 4
Ask whether the ID can be replaced
If the ID number appeared in the image, ask the issuing agency (your state DMV, for a driver's license) whether it can reissue it with a new number.
- 5
Be wary of messages that mention the breach
Don't click links in emails or texts about it. Contact Total Wireless through its own site.
- 6
Check whether your email or phone is in this and other breaches
Run a free Serus scan to see which breaches include your email or phone.
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the Total Wireless breach?
Only customers who submitted an ID to Veriff for a Total Wireless promotion are affected. Total Wireless is notifying them directly, so look for a letter or email.
What was exposed?
Images of government-issued IDs and, in some cases, names, addresses and dates of birth.
Was Total Wireless itself hacked?
No. According to Total Wireless, the access happened at its vendor Veriff and its own systems were not affected.
Should I change my password?
Passwords weren't reported as exposed. Focus on a credit freeze and on locking down your phone number.
Sources
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.
