Strauss Borrelli PLLC, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating Phase II, which does business as Public Agency Retirement Services (“PARS”), regarding its recent data breach. The PARS data breach may have involved sensitive personal identifiable information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT PHASE II D/B/A PUBLIC AGENCY RETIREMENT SERVICES:
PARS is a financial service provider based in California. Founded in 1984, PARS empowers public agencies to serve their communities more efficiently by offering customized retirement solutions that lower costs and sustainably address retirement and pension obligations.2 Since its inception, PARS has consulted with over a thousand public agencies and administered programs that have cumulatively saved hundreds of millions of dollars in public resources.2 Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, PARS has multiple locations across the United States and employs over 50 individuals.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Recently, PARS reported to the Attorney General of California that it had experienced a data breach in which the sensitive personal information in its systems may have been accessed. According to the breach notice, PARS recently discovered unusual activity within its email environment. As a result, PARS launched an investigation to determine the nature of the incident.
Through its investigation, PARS learned that sensitive personal information in its systems may have been compromised by an unauthorized third party via a phishing attack between March 11 and March 14, 2024. As a result, PARS began a review of the data to determine what information had been impacted as well as identify the specific individuals affected. The exact type of personal information potentially exposed has not been made publicly available by PARS. However, according to state reporting guidelines, “personal information” can include the following types of information:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Driver’s license number
- Government issued ID number (e.g., state ID card number, tax ID number, passport number, military ID number)
- Financial information (e.g., account number/credit or debit card number, in combination with password/access code)
- Medical information
- Health insurance information
- Unique biometric information
- Genetic data
As a result of the data breach, PARS mailed data breach notification letters to impacted individuals. Based on the breach notice sent to California residents, PARS is providing affected individuals with a list of the specific type of sensitive information impacted and complimentary credit monitoring services. A link to the form breach notification letters that PARS filed with the Attorney General of California is below.
If you received a breach notification letter from Phase II d/b/a Public Agency Retirement Services:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at 872.263.1100 or sam@straussborrelli.com.
