Information found on GCI employees’ W-2 forms was stolen in an apparent phishing scam in February, according to the company.
In an email Friday, GCI President Greg Chapados explained the information was accessed by someone claiming to be an employee of GCI. The individual, purporting to be GCI’s chief financial officer, requested “employee payroll information, specifically copies of the W-2 Wage and Tax Statement forms for everyone who worked for GCI during calendar year 2015,” Chapados wrote.
“The employee who received the sham email correctly questioned the request as unusual,” Chapados wrote. “The third party… persisted with the request, however, and ultimately the requested information was emailed to the third party on Feb. 24.”
Chapados said all GCI, Denali Media, UUI and Unicom employees paid in 2015 were affected by the scam. He emphasized that no GCI system or network was hacked, and no customer information was taken or compromised. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been contacted regarding the scam, he added.
The information contained on the W-2s includes Social Security numbers, names and addresses and 2015 income and tax withholding information.
“The W-2 does not include any credit card or bank account information,” Chapados added.
All GCI employees are being provided with two years of free credit monitoring, identity-theft insurance and identity theft counseling, as well as other services. Chapados provided additional information on protecting their credit and their 2015 tax returns.
Employees with concerns or questions are encouraged to email GCI Human Relations or call them at 907-868-5422.
“The rest of the GCI management team and I take this attack very seriously,” Chapados said. “We are moving to further strengthen the protection of employee information and launch an already-planned anti-phishing training program. We will also continue to reinforce our overall privacy and security posture.”
Editor’s note: GCI is the parent company of KTVA 11 News.