A data breach to Capital One servers in March exposed the personal information of nearly 6 million Canadians. The company provides Mastercard credit cards for Costco Wholesale’s Canadian retail network, The Hudson’s Bay Company and several others.

Here’s how to find out if you were affected by the Capital One data breach and what you can do to protect yourself.

Among the personal data exposed were names, addresses, phone numbers, postal codes, email addresses, birthdates, and self-reported income. Approximately 1 million Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) were also exposed.

The information exposed in the hack was largely linked to consumers and small businesses that applied for Capital One credit card products between 2005 and early 2019. Also exposed were customer status data, such as credit limits, scores, balances, and payment histories.

Capital One said, however, that no credit card account numbers or login credentials were revealed in the hack.

Capital One to contact those affected

Capital One said it will notify affected Canadian customers through a variety of ways, but didn’t specify how. However, it did note that it won’t call individuals about it, so be wary of any calls about the breach. The company also said that customers should be extra mindful of phishing emails due to this incident.

If you do think you are experiencing phishing emails, you can contact Capital One directly at abuse@capitalone.com.

Protect yourself from identity theft

If you have been affected, you can request for a new credit card number as a precaution. Identity theft is on the rise in our country. Here are steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and credit card fraud:

1. Sign up for credit monitoring services either through Equifax or TransUnion whereby any inquiry made on your credit bureau or opening of new accounts will trigger an email notification for your protection.
2. Limit your exposure by trying not to apply for credit cards or store cards with your personal information unless necessary. Yes, you may get 10% off that purchase but the price you’re paying in exchange is giving out your personal information.
3. Protect your SIN. SIN numbers are not required in most cases when applying for credit.
4. Protect your accounts with complex passwords and with two-step verification, if available. This makes it more difficult to access private information.
5. Protect your personal documents by storing them safely in either a cloud or physical safe. Documentation which has personal information should be shredded if being destroyed.
6. Contact Equifax and TransUnion to set up a fraud alert if you’re concerned.