Georgia Heritage Data Breach Affects 43,077 People

Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union, a member-owned credit union based in the Savannah, Georgia metro area, disclosed a data breach that affected approximately 43,077 individuals in the United States, including 1,945 South Carolina residents, 294 Texas residents, 36 Massachusetts residents, 18 Maine residents, 12 New Hampshire residents and four Vermont residents.

On or about Jan. 25, 2025, Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union experienced a ransomware incident. Upon discovering the unauthorized activity, Georgia Heritage secured its network and engaged a specialized third-party cybersecurity firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the nature and scope of the incident.

Following the investigation, the credit union engaged a separate data mining vendor to review the files that had been accessed to identify the specific individuals whose information may have been involved and to deetermine the types of data that were potentially exposed.

The types of personal information that may have been subject to unauthorized access included names, addresses, dates of birth, driver's license information, employment-related information, financial account information, individual taxpayer identification number, foreign national ID numbers, health-related information, passport information, personal email addresses, personal telephone numbers, Social Insurance numbers and Social Security numbers.

Georgia Heritage discovered the breach on Feb. 10, 2025, and began notifying affected consumers on Jan. 15, 2026, almost a year after the incident occured.

Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union's response

Georgia Heritage notified affected individuals by first-class mail. The written notices included details about the incident, the types of information involved, the free monitoring services being offered and additional resources for protecting against identity theft.

Georgia Heritage is offering access to CyEx Financial Shield Complete with Experian Single Bureau Credit Monitoring services at no charge for 12 months from the date of enrollment. The credit union is also providing proactive fraud assistance through HaystackID, a company that specializes in fraud assistance and remediation services.

Affected individuals can enroll in the free monitoring services by visiting the enrollment page and entering the unique code included in their written notification. Enrollment must be completed within 90 days from the date of the notification letter.

For questions or concerns, Georgia Heritage has set up a toll-free call center at 888-844-1195. The call center is available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Eastern Time, excluding U.S. national holidays.