SAHUARITA, ARIZONA: January 12, 2023 – Farmers Investment Co. (“FICO”) doing business as the Green Valley Pecan Company, parent company of its wholly owned subsidiary Farmers Water Co. (“FWC”) experienced a data security incident that may have involved the personal information belonging to certain employees, independent contractors, vendors, and clients. FICO has sent notification about this incident to potentially impacted individuals and provided resources to assist them.
On or around May 31, 2022, FICO experienced a network disruption. In response, we immediately took steps to secure our digital environment and engaged a leading cybersecurity firm to assist with an investigation and determine whether sensitive or personal information may have been accessed or acquired during the incident. Through the investigation, on August 26, 2022, we found that personal information may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized individual. Following this confirmation, we engaged a vendor to conduct a thorough and extensive review of potentially affected files to determine what personal information may have been involved. Additionally, we began the process of locating mailing information and setting up services being offered, which was completed on January 3, 2023.
Please note that FICO’s experts’ investigation has found no evidence to suggest misuse or attempted misuse of information. However, on January 12, 2023, FICO provided notice of this incident to potentially impacted individuals. In so doing, FICO provided information about the incident and about steps that potentially impacted individuals can take to protect their information. FICO takes the security and privacy of information in its possession very seriously and is taking steps to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future.
While the impacted data varies, the following personal and protected health information may have been involved in the incident: names, dates of birth, client identification numbers, Social Security numbers, driver’s license and/or state identification numbers, financial account and routing numbers, medical information, and/or health insurance information.
FICO has established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident and to address related concerns. Call center representatives are available Monday through Friday from 6:00am to 6:00pm Pacific Time and can be reached at 1-833-758-8900.
The privacy and protection of personal information is a top priority for FICO, which deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause.
While FICO has no evidence of the misuse of any potentially affected individual’s information, it is providing the following information to help those wanting to know more about steps they can take to protect themselves and their personal information:
What steps can I take to protect my personal information?
Review Your Account Statements and Notify Law Enforcement of Suspicious Activity: As a precautionary measure, we recommend that you remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements and credit reports closely. If you detect any suspicious activity on an account, you should promptly notify the financial institution or company with which the account is maintained. You also should promptly report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incidence of identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, your state attorney general, and/or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You should also contact your local law enforcement authorities and file a police report. Obtain a copy of the police report in case you are asked to provide copies to creditors to correct your records. Contact information for the Federal Trade Commission is as follows:
Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Ave
NW, Washington, DC 20580
1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338)
www.consumer.ftc.gov
www.identitytheft.gov
Copy of Credit Report: You may obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once every 12 months by visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, calling toll-free 877-322-8228, or by completing an Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348. You can print this form at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/requestformfinal.pdf. You also can contact one of the following three national credit reporting agencies:
Equifax, P.O. Box 105851, Atlanta, GA 30348, 1-800-525-6285, www.equifax.com.
Experian, P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com.
TransUnion, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19016, 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com.
Security Freeze: You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. A security freeze is intended to prevent credit, loans and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To place a security freeze on your credit report, you need to make a request to each consumer reporting agency. You may make that request by certified mail, overnight mail, or regular stamped mail, or online by following the instructions found at the websites listed below. You will need to provide the following information when requesting a security freeze (note that if you are making a request for your spouse, this information must be provided for him/her as well):
- Full name, with middle initial and any suffixes
- Social Security number
- Date of birth
- Address.
You may also be asked to provide other personal information such as your email address, a copy of a government-issued identification card, and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank or insurance statement. It is essential that each copy be legible, display your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue. There is no charge to place, lift, or remove a freeze.You may obtain a security freeze by contacting any one or more of the following national consumer reporting agencies:
Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788, Atlanta, GA 30348, 1-800-349-9960, www.equifax.com.
Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com.
TransUnion (FVAD), P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, 1-800-909-8872, www.transunion.com.
Fraud Alert on my Account: You may consider placing a fraud alert on your credit report. This fraud alert statement informs creditors to possible fraudulent activity within your report and requests that your creditor contact you prior to establishing any accounts in your name. To place a fraud alert on your credit report, contact Equifax, Experian or TransUnion and follow the Fraud Victims instructions. To place a fraud alert on your credit accounts, contact your financial institution or credit provider. Contact information for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies is included on this page.
Additional Free Resources: You can obtain information from the consumer reporting agencies, the FTC, or from your respective state attorney general about fraud alerts, security freezes, and steps you can take toward preventing identity theft. You may report suspected identity theft to local law enforcement, including to the FTC or to the attorney general in your state.
Additional information for residents of the following states:
|
Federal Trade Commission |
Maryland Attorney General |
New York Attorney General |
| North Carolina Attorney General 9001 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699 ncdoj.gov 1-877-566-7226 |
Rhode Island Attorney General 150 South Main Street Providence, RI 02903 http://www.riag.ri.gov 1-401-274-4400 |
Arizona Attorney General 2005 N. Central Ave Phoenix, AZ 85004 https://www.azag.gov 1-602-542-5763 |
|
Washington D.C. Attorney General |
What should I do if my family member was involved in the incident and is deceased?
You may choose to notify the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union, and request they flag the deceased credit file. This will prevent the credit file information from being used to open credit. To make this request, mail a copy of your family member’s death certificate to each company at the addresses below.
| Equifax Equifax Information Services P.O. Box 105169 Atlanta, GA 30348 |
Experian Experian Information Services P.O. Box 9701 Allen, TX 75013 |
TransUnion Trans Union Information Services P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022 |
What should I do if my minor child or protected person’s information was involved in the incident?
You can request that each of the three national credit reporting agencies perform a manual search for a minor’s or protected person’s Social Security number to determine if there is an associated credit report. Copies of identifying information for the minor and parent/guardian may be required, including birth or adoption certificate, Social Security card and government issued identification card. If a credit report exists, you should request a copy of the report and immediately report any fraudulent accounts to the credit reporting agency. You can also report any misuse of a minor’s information to the FTC at https://www.identitytheft.gov/.
For more information about Child Identity Theft and instructions for requesting a manual Social Security number search, visit the FTC website:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0040-child-identity-theft. Contact information for the three national credit reporting agencies may be found above.
