MCKINNEY, Texas — Approximately 5,000 customers linked to Globe Life's subsidiary, American Income Life Insurance Company, may have had their personal information compromised, according to a recent SEC filing.
Globe Life Inc., based in McKinney, was contacted by an unknown threat actor seeking to extort money from the company, Globe Life disclosed. The actor was seeking money in exchange for not releasing their customer's personal information, the filing states.
The company immediately launched an investigation aided by cybersecurity experts and reported the extortion to federal law enforcement, the filing details.
Investigators found that the threat actor may have accessed customers and customer leads associated with Globe Life's subsidiary, American Income Life Insurance Company. The information includes identifying information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, and in some instances Social Security numbers, health-related data, and other policy information, the filing states.
The information does not appear to contain financial information such as credit card data or banking information. The threat actor claims to have additional information, but those claims are unverified and the investigation is ongoing, according to the SEC.
"The Company will notify individuals affected by this incident, take steps as needed to protect and remediate the impact for them, and continue to communicate with regulatory authorities," the filing states.
In April, Stock for Globe Life Inc. plummeted after a group called Fuzzy Panda Research said it had taken a short position in the company after conducting an investigation it alleged revealed evidence of wide-ranging insurance fraud, WFAA previously reported.
In a statement, Globe Life called the allegations "wildly misleading." The incident wiped out $5 billion in value for Globe Life, Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal.
In regards to the extortion incident, Globe Life said it expects no impact on its "financial condition or results of operation," according to the filing.
