Have you recently received a letter in the mail alerting you of a Health Data Breach Amendment and I wonder if this is a scam? The short answer: it’s the real deal. But now what to do? According to Change HealthcareLetters notifying business customers of the breach began going out in June, but some people received them as recently as September and October.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is the United Health, Change Healthcare cyberattack?

The cyberattack began on Feb. 21 against Change Healthcare, a health care technology company that is part of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth Group, according to the American Hospital Association.

The company processes 15 billion healthcare transactions annually, which include a range of services that directly affect patient care, including eligibility verification and pharmacy operations, as well as claims transmission and payment. All of these elements were disrupted to varying degrees, the hospital professional group noted in a press release.

It’s unclear how many hospitals were affected, but professional groups said Change Healthcare transactions affected one in three patient records.

And while the data affected isn’t the same for everyone involved, according to Change Healthcare, information implicated in the breach includes:

• Contact detailssuch as name, address, date of birth, telephone number and email

• Health insurance datasuch as health plans/policies, insurance companies, member/group identification numbers, and Medicaid-Medicare-government payer identification numbers

• Health datasuch as medical record numbers, doctors, diagnoses, medications, test results, images, care and treatment

• Billing, insurance claims and payment datasuch as claim numbers, account numbers, billing codes, payment cards, financial and banking information and balance

• Other personal datasuch as social security numbers, driver’s license or state ID numbers or other identification numbers

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What to do if you think you may have been affected by a data breach

Here are some tips from Federal Trade Commission if you believe you have been affected by a data breach, including one involving Change Healthcare:

• Get free credit reports at annualcreditreport.com and check any accounts or charges you don’t recognize.

• Consider placing a free credit freeze or fraud alert to further protect yourself against people trying to open new accounts in your name.

• Change usernames and passwords that may have been compromised.

• Take advantage of free credit monitoring if it is offered by the company responsible for disclosing your information.

In this case, Change Healthcare offers free online credit monitoring and identity restoration services through IDX for two years, which consumers should take advantage of.

However, the state Division of Consumer Protection also recommends that consumers ask additional questions and educate themselves before accepting a service and consider placing a fraud alert or security freeze on their credit as an additional measure of protection.

David Robinson, New York State Team Health Reporter reports contributed.

Emily Barnes reports on consumer issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect team, focusing on topics related to scams and recalls. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Contact us at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: What to know about the Change Healthcare letter you received in the mail