Sheyla Bonilla says just a few hours after hearing about the University of Central Florida’s network being hacked into, she got a call from her credit card company.  She says someone made thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases on her credit card. 

“Some weird transactions were taking place, and I don’t know if it’s related or not but I think it’s kind of weird. And that’s the credit card I use for everything UCF related,” said Bonilla.

Bonilla says she’s still waiting to find out if she was one of the 63,000 people whose security numbers were illegally accessed in the data breach. She’s worried her credit card problems weren’t just a coincidence.

At last check, UCF says there are no confirmed reports the network intrusion led to any fraudulent activity. And UCF officials say no other personal data besides the social security numbers were illegally accessed.

Over the weekend, two former UCF students who worked in leadership roles with UCF’s Student Government Association filed a lawsuit against UCF.  Their attorney says the students want to know how the network breach happened and how UCF plans to prevent it from happening again. Michael Pascucci issued this statement:

“First, we appreciate UCF’s acknowledgment of the breach, and that it is now doing something to investigate the weaknesses in its network security. However, our clients have serious concern about the future security of their confidential information maintained by UCF, and the ongoing collateral harm of identity theft they are now at risk of for years to come. This lawsuit is about making sure the victims of this breach, an estimated 63,000 current and former student-athletes and employees who trusted UCF to safeguard their personal and confidential information, have a voice in ensuring that UCF implements proper security procedures so that this never happens again. The UCF community has a right to know how this happened, what UCF will do to make sure that this cannot happen again, and to make sure that UCF provides adequate and fair compensation to those whose sensitive information and privacy rights were compromised."

The former students are also seeking compensation for any financial difficulties they might face from identity theft.   

“It’s really scary.  It definitely worried me,” said Bonilla.

Bonilla is still hopeful her credit card problem is just a coincidence. If it’s not, she says she’ll consider filing suit or joining a class action lawsuit.

“If I end up being a victim and my social security is stolen, of course. This is a university where they promise that our information is secure and safe,” said Bonilla.