Wellington officials said Thursday they were recently notified about potential unauthorized charges on credit cards used by customers to pay their utility bills.
In a written statement, the village said on Wednesday they received a call from their vendor, Superion, notifying them of vulnerabilities in their software related to Click2Gov online payments for utility bills.
Credit card information may have been taken during the transactions.
Village officials said they shut down the payment connection to Superion and began working with them to determine if any residents' information was compromised.
"The forensic analysis is continuing, security patches are being installed and new hardware and software are being installed to eliminate the breach," said a Wellington news release.
Officials said Superion could not confirm that any customer credit card data had been compromised, but they decided to notify customers as a precaution.
Who is at risk?
Utility bills paid by credit cards between July 2017 to February 2018 may be at risk.
The information at risk includes customer names, credit card number and expiration dates. Payments made over the phone were not affected, only payments made online through the Click2Gov portal.
Officials said until the village has the online payment system secure and working again, utility or building department payments can be made as follows:
• For Utility Billing, call Customer Service at (561) 791-4010
• For Building Dept. payments, call (561) 753-2430
• Call the Interactive Voice Response at (561) 753-2418
• Stop by the Village Hall located at 12300 Forest Hill Blvd. to pay in person
• Use the drop box outside of the Village Hall located at 12300 Forest Hill Blvd. for Utility payments
What should you do?
1. Wellington residents are reminded to review their credit card statements closely and report any unauthorized charges, no matter how small, to the card issuer immediately. The phone number to call is usually on the back of the payment card.
2. Ask your credit card issuer/bank to deactivate your card and issue a new card.
3. Request a fraud alert to be placed on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. You may call any of the three major credit bureaus listed below. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts. The initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for 90 days. You can renew it after 90 days.
4. Request that all three credit reports be sent to you, free of charge, for your review. Even if you do not find any suspicious activity on your initial credit reports, the Federal Trade Commission recommends that you check your credit reports periodically. Thieves may hold stolen information to use at various times.
Check your credit reports periodically to help spot problems and address them quickly.
• Equifax: Equifax.com or 1-800-525-6285
• Experian: Experian.com or 1-888-397-3742
• TransUnion: Transunion.com or 1-800-680-7289