Privacy Incident 2025

May 16, 2025

Notice of Privacy Incident

HopeWay Foundation is issuing notice of a data security event that potentially impacted the security of information related to certain individuals who have received services from, or been employed by, HopeWay Foundation. Although HopeWay Foundation is unaware of any actual misuse of this information, HopeWay Foundation is providing information about the event, its response, and steps potentially affected individuals may take to better protect against the possibility of identity theft and fraud, should they feel it is appropriate to do so.

What Happened?  In November 2024, HopeWay Foundation became aware of suspicious activity related to an employee email account and immediately undertook efforts to secure the account where the activity was observed and investigated what occurred. The investigation determined there was unauthorized access to six (6) HopeWay Foundation email accounts between October 31, 2024, and November 21, 2024.  Accordingly, HopeWay Foundation, with the assistance of data review specialists, undertook a comprehensive and time-intensive review of the contents of the affected email accounts to determine if they contained sensitive information and, if so, to whom the information related. That review was completed on March 19, 2025 and HopeWay Foundation is notifying potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution.

What Information was Involved?  The investigation determined the following types of information were stored within the impacted email accounts at the time of the event and may have been affected: full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, financial account information, health insurance information, and/or medical treatment and diagnosis information. The information involved varies by individual. Please note HopeWay Foundation is not aware of any identity theft or fraud

What We Are Doing.  HopeWay Foundation takes this event and the security of information in its care very seriously. Upon learning of the event, HopeWay Foundation immediately took steps to investigate and respond.  The investigation actions included steps to secure HopeWay Foundation’s environment and continue normal operations, review the involved accounts and files, and notify potentially impacted individuals. HopeWay Foundation is also notifying appropriate governmental regulators, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

What You Can Do.  We encourage individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing account statements, explanations of benefits, and monitoring credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Additional information can be found below in the Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information. 

For More Information.  Beginning May 20, 2025, individuals seeking additional information may call our assistance line at 1-800-939-4170 (toll free), Monday through Friday, 9 am – 9 pm Eastern Time, excluding U.S. holidays. You may also write to HopeWay Foundation at 1717 Sharon Rd W, Charlotte, NC 28210.

Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information

Monitor Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a one-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a “credit freeze” on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer’s express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

1. Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.);
2. Social Security number;
3. Date of birth;
4. Addresses for the prior two to five years;
5. Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill;
6. A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver’s license or ID card, military identification, etc.); and
7. A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft.

Should you wish to place a fraud alert or credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Additional Information

Consumers may further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps they can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or their state attorney general. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Consumers can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. Consumers have the right to file a police report if they ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, consumers will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and state attorney general. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; 202-727-3400; and oag.dc.gov.

For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-576-6300 or 1-888-743-0023; and https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/.

For New Mexico residents, consumers have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in their credit file has been used against them, the right to know what is in their credit file, the right to ask for their credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to consumers’ files is limited; consumers must give consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; consumers may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance based on information in their credit report; and consumers may seek damages from violators. Consumers may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage consumers to review their rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov.

For North Carolina residents, the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; www.riag.ri.gov; and 1-401-274-4400. Under Rhode Island law, individuals have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this event. Fees may be required to be paid to the consumer reporting agencies. There are no currently known Rhode Island residents that may be impacted by this event.