Statement from the Niagara County Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

“The Niagara County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Department (the Department of Mental Health) learned that it experienced a single business email compromise of one of its employee’s email accounts between May 4-5, 2022. Upon further internal investigation, the County discovered in June 2022, that this incident could have involved certain types of protected health information (“PHI”). While we have no indication that there has been any unlawful use or disclosure of PHI or personally identifiable information (“PII”), out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Mental Health is providing this public notice for the benefit of anyone who may have received services from the office recently.

“Through our ongoing investigation, it has been determined some emails in the employee’s account contained PHI including, but not limited to, name, contact information, date of birth, insurance information, social security number, and treatment and diagnosis information. If you are determined to have been impacted by this single business email compromise, you will be notified by letter directly. Individuals who may have been affected by this incident and receive a letter from the Department of Mental Health, can enroll in credit monitoring and identity theft services as instructed in the letter, and take other steps to protect their information including, but not limited to, placing a freeze or fraud alert on your credit file, or obtain a free credit report.

“The Department of Mental Health would like the public to know that it takes individuals’ privacy very seriously. The Department of Mental Health, along with the assistance of outside cybersecurity professionals, is continuing to take steps to investigate and mitigate any potential harm to individuals and protect from further compromises, including implementing additional technical, procedural, and administrative safeguards. If you received services through the Department of Mental Health recently and believe you may have been impacted by this incident, and do not receive a letter, we have established a dedicated line for you to leave your contact information at (716) 439-7197.”

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