T-Mobile blames latest data leak on 'temporary system glitch'

Update: September 21, 2023 (1:21 AM ET): T-Mobile has confirmed to Android Authority that the latest incident of third-party user data appearing in the T-Mobile app was not a breach. The carrier sent over the following statement to us, confirming it was a technical issue at its end”

“There was no cyberattack or breach at T-Mobile. This was a temporary system glitch related to a planned overnight technology update involving limited account information for fewer than 100 customers, which was quickly revolved.”

Original article: September 20, 2023 (9:57 AM ET): As one of the big carriers in the US, T-Mobile has some pretty good plans and phone deals. Coupled with their network coverage and 5G support, it is no surprise that they are the top choice for plenty of customers in the country. Unfortunately, many users have woken up to a confusing surprise in the T-Mobile app, where they could see a lot of personal information that did not belong to them.

As The Verge and a mega thread in the T-Mobile subreddit highlighted, the “Bill” and “More” tabs in the official T-Mobile app on Android and iOS began showing third-party information to some customers. This information presumably belongs to other customers and includes their current credit balance, purchase history, the last four digits of their credit card and its expiration date, phone numbers, and addresses.

T-Mobile is investigating the issue, though the support account did not provide more details. It is not immediately clear if the leak has been fixed.

We’ve reached out to T-Mobile for more details and will update this article as soon as we hear back from them.

T-Mobile has had a few data breaches this year already. The first one in January 2023 impacted 37 million accounts, where attackers obtained customer details, including their names, addresses, contact details, and birth dates. The second one was reported in April 2023, when an attacker had gained access to the personal information of “hundreds” of accounts. And we aren’t even counting the other breaches before 2023 yet.

What should you do as a customer?

We do not have clarity on the situation, and there is no way to immediately ascertain if your information was shown to another customer. We need to wait for T-Mobile to make an official announcement to know the extent of the leak, and further steps can be suggested only after that. Until then, sit tight and do not panic.