American Care Concepts experienced a potential breach of your protected health information related to the unlawful access of an email account by an unidentified third party on or around June 17, 2021. On that date, our IT provider discovered that emails had been accessed by an unknown individual for the purpose of monitoring email communications to intercept payments intended to a vendor.
Through an investigation, it was determined that an email password had been compromised, allowing an unidentified person access to an email account. This individual then used this email account to “spoof” an email and pose as one of our vendors in order to obtain payment that was intended for another. Unfortunately, American Groves, American Orchards and Countryside Living are just as much a victim of this crime as this individual stole money intended for our vendor.
After an extensive investigation by our IT Team, we determined that some protected health information was contained in these internal emails, specifically resident names, apartment numbers and monthly rent amounts. Unfortunately, we were unable to determine which of the emails were accessed or how long this individual had access and as such, are notifying affected individuals out of an abundance of caution. We believe a total of 262 people may have been affected.
Fortunately, no other protected health information was compromised. The emails did not contain residents’ dates of birth, social security numbers, credit card or bank account information, or any financial or clinical information. It appears that, at most, the individual may have had access to resident names, apartment numbers, and rent amounts.
The crime appears to have been financially motivated, committed with the intent to steal money rather than to obtain resident names. Although we cannot guarantee that the individual who committed this crime did not view or acquire a list of resident names and apartment numbers, this information was likely of little value to the perpetrator.
As you may be aware, identity scams are on the rise and unfortunately, seniors are a frequently targeted population. As always, you should continue to be vigilant in reviewing your account statements and credit reports. If you receive any suspicious or unusual request for information from someone you do not recognize, please verify their identity before providing any personal financial information.
Please note that we have taken several measures to ensure that this does not occur in the future. We have increased our network security and continue to work with our IT firm to ensure we have the most up-to-date security measures. Of note, the Gilbert Police Department and the FBI were immediately informed and it remains an active investigation.
Keeping your personal information secure is of utmost importance to us and we very much regret that this situation occurred. Although this was an isolated incident, we are committed to maintaining the security of our current and prospective residents’ confidential information and have taken measures to ensure that this does not happen in the future.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us during our regular office hours (Monday through Friday, 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.). For information as to how to place a fraud alert on your credit report or to request a free copy of your credit report, please contact us.
We look forward to serving the needs of our community and again apologize for any inconvenience that has occurred.