CAMDEN – Two class-action lawsuits are seeking more than $5 million for customers affected by a computer hack at a South Jersey eyewear firm.
The lawsuits say that US Vision Inc. of Gloucester Township failed to protect the personal information of customers and employees from an online attacker.
The breach, which occurred between April 20 and May 17, 2021, exposed the records of approximately 710,000 people, according to one of the lawsuits.
Another puts the number of potential victims at 180,000.
Both say customer claims could exceed $5 million.
A spokesman for US Vision did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement on its website, US Vision said the hacker primarily accessed customer names and eye insurance information.
The incident also exposed the addresses, dates of birth and other identifying information of “a smaller number of individuals,” the report said.
“We have no evidence of identity theft or fraud as a result of this incident,” it said.
Separate lawsuits were recently filed in Camden federal court on behalf of Arizona residents Bonita Odell and Ian Torres.
Both lawsuits name US Vision and an affiliate of USV Optical as defendants. Both firms share an address in the Blackwood section of Gloucester.
In the complaint, Odell also seeks damages from Nationwide Optometry, the Arizona-based firm that recently notified its customers about the hack.
Odell’s lawsuit alleges that after the data leak, the woman “suffered a dramatic increase in the number of spam calls she receives.”
It said the calls “became a constant source of frustration for her and her family”.
Torres’ lawsuit says the affected customers were “subjected to an increased and imminent risk of fraud and identity theft.”
It also says they may incur costs “to purchase credit monitoring services, credit freezes, credit reports or other protections.”
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
