As Attorney General Kamala Harris’s annual data breach report noted, some breach notifications are written on a level that exceeds the average consumer’s reading level. Here’s one from Capital One that’s in a bit more plain English:
We’re writing to let you know that your personal information may have been compromised. A former employee, while still employed at Capital One®, accessed it when they shouldn’t have. We know how unsettling this news can be and want you to know that we’ve notified law enforcement and this person is no longer with the company.
While we do not see any suspicious account transactions related to this, please keep an eye out for unauthorized transactions (including outside of Capital One) because the person saw your account information, such as your name, account number and social security number. We are working with law enforcement and are taking other steps to prevent this kind of event in the future.
We’ve enclosed some fraud prevention tools and tips and a credit monitoring offer. To help you identify potential identity theft, we’ll pay for two years of TransUnion’s credit monitoring service. You can sign up for this free service anytime until December 31, 2014. This service will not auto-renew and you’ll have the choice if you’d like to keep it after two years. Please read the enclosed tips for how to set it up.
We understand how important your privacy is. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-888-372-8305. We’re available 8am ET–8pm ET Monday–Friday.