Use any tools offered to monitor credit following Ticketmaster data breach, says expert

Consumers who have fallen victim to corporate data breaches should stay vigilant about monitoring their personal accounts and financial information, but may not need to completely cancel or close affected accounts, according to a lawyer and data breach expert practising in Canada.

The advice comes in the wake of major data breaches affecting customers of companies as large as American telecom giant AT&T or the world's largest ticket seller, Ticketmaster.

In particular, the instructions and support provided by those companies may be the best place to start, according to Brent Arnold.

"You should do what they tell you to do, because usually they give you some advice that's intended to empower you to look after yourself and protect yourself," said Arnold, lawyer and data breach counsel with law firm Gowling WLG in Toronto.

"It's almost always the same tips and those tips are a good idea," he said, referring specifically to instructions to monitor both the compromised and other accounts for unusual activity, and to sign up for any offered credit monitoring services.

In the email sent by Ticketmaster to many of its customers, the company offers identity monitoring free of charge for a year.

Arnold points out accessing these services goes beyond just checking a person's credit score.

"They're actually going into the places where people sell accounts to see if your data is there. It's way more than just giving you unlimited access to your credit rating stuff," said Arnold.

Ticketmaster emailed customers on July 8 that it had discovered an "unauthorized third party" obtained information from a cloud database hosted by a third-party company between April 2 and May 18. 

The information "may have included your name, basic contact information, and payment card information such as encrypted credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates," the email read.

In a previous interview with CBC News, Evan Light, an associate professor of communications at York University, suggested strong action be taken by affected customers.

"If people get emails from Ticketmaster saying that they're among these accounts, I'd say cancel your credit card right away," said Light.

Advice like this was taken to heart by Daryn Magdall, who opted to call his financial institution to ask for his credit card number to be changed.

According to Magdall, RBC refused to accommodate when he called.