Notice of Data Security Incident
St. Joseph, Missouri – September 8, 2025 – The City of St. Joseph, Missouri (“the City”) is providing notice of a recent cybersecurity incident to potentially affected individuals. While the City has no indication that personal information has been misused, this notice contains information about what occurred, actions that have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence, and steps individuals can take to protect their information.
What happened?
On June 9, 2025, the City discovered that a cybersecurity incident had impacted its IT systems. Immediately upon identifying the incident, law enforcement was notified. The City then immediately engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to assess, contain, remediate, and investigate the incident.
What information was involved?
A thorough investigation into the scope of the incident was launched to determine what, if any, information was compromised by the unauthorized party. The investigation determined that personal information contained within police department records was potentially exposed. Please note that a majority of the impacted data was publicly available local government records lawfully made available to the general public.
While the investigation did not find any instances of fraud or identity theft that occurred as a result of this incident, the City is providing this notice out of an abundance of caution.
What we are doing.
The City takes its responsibility to safeguard personal information seriously and regrets any concern this incident may have caused. As part of the City’s ongoing commitment to the security of information, the City has reviewed and enhanced its data security policies and procedures related to IT infrastructure, data privacy and data security in order to help reduce the likelihood of a similar event in the future.
The City is deeply sorry for any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause our citizens. We take data privacy and security very seriously and are committed to transparency throughout this process.
Sincerely, City of St. Joseph
Additional Information
Credit Reports: You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, whether or not you suspect any unauthorized activity on your account. You may obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To order your free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com, or call toll-free at 1-877-322-8228. You can also order your annual free credit report by mailing a completed Annual Credit Report Request Form (available at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports) to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.
Security Freeze: You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. A security freeze is intended to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To place a security freeze on your credit report, you need to make a request to each consumer reporting agency. You may make that request by certified mail, overnight mail, regular stamped mail, or by following the instructions found at the websites listed below. The following information must be included when requesting a security freeze (note that if you are requesting a credit report for your spouse or a minor under the age of 16, this information must be provided for him/her as well): (1) full name, with middle initial and any suffixes; (2) Social Security number;
(3) date of birth; (4) current address and any previous addresses for the past five years; and (5) any applicable incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency or the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The request must also include a copy of a government-issued identification card and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank or insurance statement. It is essential that each copy be legible, display your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue. As of September 21, 2018, it is free to place, lift, or remove a security freeze. You may also place a security freeze for children under the age of 16. You may obtain a free security freeze by contacting any one or more of the following national consumer reporting agencies:
Fraud Alerts: You can place fraud alerts with the three credit bureaus by phone and online with:
· Equifax (https://assets.equifax.com/assets/personal/Fraud_Alert_Request_Form.pdf);
· TransUnion (https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts); or
· Experian (https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html).
A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures, including contacting you, before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. For that reason, placing a fraud alert can protect you, but also may delay you when you seek to obtain credit. As of September 21, 2018, initial fraud alerts last for one year. Victims of identity theft can also get an extended fraud alert for seven years. The phone numbers for all three credit bureaus are listed above.
Monitoring: You should always remain vigilant and monitor your accounts for suspicious or unusual activity.
File Police Report: You have the right to file or obtain a police report if you experience identity fraud. Please note that in order to file a crime report or incident report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide proof that you have been a victim. A police report is often required to dispute fraudulent items. You can generally report suspected incidents of identity theft to local law enforcement or to the Attorney General.
FTC and Attorneys General: You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338), 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. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please
Equifax Security Freeze P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-888-298-0045 https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/ Experian Security Freeze P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze/center.html TransUnion Security Freeze P.O. Box 160 Woodlyn, PA 19094 1-800-916-8800 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.
For Arizona residents, the Attorney General may be contacted at the Consumer Protection & Advocacy Section, 2005 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004, 1-602-542-5025.
For Colorado residents, the Attorney General may be contacted through Consumer Protection 1300 Broadway, 9th Floor, Denver, CO 80203 1-720-508-6000, www.coag.gov.
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 Illinois residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601; 1-866-999-5630; www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov.
For Iowa residents, you can report any suspected identity theft to law enforcement or to the Attorney General.
For Massachusetts residents, it is required by state law that you are informed of your right to obtain a police report in regard to this incident. If you are the victim of identity theft, you also have the right to file a police report and obtain a copy of it.
For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202, 1-888-743-0023, and www.oag.state.md.us.
For New Mexico residents, you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violators. You 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 you to review your 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 Attorney General may be contacted at Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341, 1-800-771-7755, and https://ag.ny.gov/.
For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001, 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6400, and www.ncdoj.gov.
For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General can be reached at 150 South Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, www.riag.ri.gov, and 1-401-274-4400.
Under Rhode Island law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed regarding this incident. There are no known Rhode Island residents impacted by this event.
For Vermont Residents: If you do not have internet access but would like to learn more about how to place a security freeze on your credit report, contact the Vermont Attorney General’s Office at 802-656-3183 (800-649-2424 toll free in Vermont only).