Sailed Carnival, Princess or Holland America? Hackers got your passport number

June 2, 2026

By Kim Komando

I warned you about this in my free Current newsletter. Here’s the confirmation, and it’s worse than the first headline let on. I’m a sailor, so a cruise-line mess like this hits close to home.

Carnival Corporation, the biggest cruise company on the planet, got cracked open by one click. A hacker tricked a single employee into handing over access. That’s it. No genius code, no Hollywood hacking. Just a con. 

Somebody sweet-talked their way past a human, the same way a scammer cons Grandma out of a gift card. The company says it caught the break-in back in April. They told you last week. (Their own FAQ literally asks, “Why am I just finding out about this?” Read the room, Carnival.)

The damage isn’t small. A filing with Maine’s attorney general puts the count at 5,995,277 people. That’s nearly 6 million names, emails, phone numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers and passport numbers. 

Sailed on Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Costa, AIDA or P&O? You’re in the pool.

🛂 Why this one stings

A stolen credit card is annoying. You cancel it over coffee and move on. 

A stolen passport number plus your birthday plus your license? That’s the starter kit for someone to open accounts, file fake taxes and become you.

You can cancel a card in five minutes. You can’t cancel your date of birth. This isn’t a “change your password” situation.

And here’s the part that’ll make your blood boil. A crew called ShinyHunters claims credit for the con, and the data may already be on the dark web. 

Carnival won’t confirm where it went. Comforting.

🛟 Do these three things today

1. Find your code, then enroll. Carnival’s covering two years through TransUnion. Look for your notification letter or email. It has a unique 12-letter activation code inside. Take that code to mytrueidentity.com, drop it in the “Enter Activation Code” box, and you’re set in minutes. No letter yet? Call 1-844-593-8310 to check if you’re on the list. Either way, do it before Aug. 31.
2. Freeze your credit. This is the big one. A freeze is free, it’s your federal right, and it blocks crooks from opening new accounts in your name. I walk you through all four bureaus here.
3. Watch for emails pretending to be from Carnival. Scammers feast on breaches like this. Any “verify your account” message goes straight to the trash. Go to the source yourself.

Lock it down.

🛡️ Cruise companies aren’t the only ones 

We never hear about a data breach until months after it happens. So the only real question left is simple. Are you in this one? Or the next one from another company?

That’s why I use Coveron. You may remember them as NordProtect. Same trusted company, now with a sharper focus on the scams, fraud and targeted attacks hitting people right now. This isn’t 2005’s identity theft. It’s AI-driven, faster, meaner and aimed straight at your bank account.

People ask me the same questions about identity theft. Here’s how Coveron answers every single one:

• “How do I know if my info is already out there?” Coveron scans the dark web around the clock. The second your email, SSN or financial data surfaces somewhere it shouldn’t, you get a real-time alert. Not a monthly digest. Right then, while you can still slam the door.
• “How would I know if someone opened credit in my name?” You would now. Coveron monitors for new accounts, hard inquiries and changes to your credit file. That loan you never applied for? You find out the same day, not six months later when the bill collector calls.
• “If it happens, who will help me fix it?” A real restoration specialist. Not a chatbot. Not a FAQ page. A human being who knows the exact steps to get your name, your credit and your accounts back.
• “Am I covered if the damage is already done?” Up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. Real coverage, not buried fine print.

Coveron is watching.

Without their protection, this kind of exposure can sit quiet for months. Then it shows up as a loan you never took out. A credit card you never opened. A tax refund someone else already cashed. By then you’re not preventing anything. You’re cleaning up the mess. That’s your name, your credit, your cash walking out the door.

Don’t wait for the letter that starts with “we regret to inform you.” Gee, thanks for nothing.

✅ Get 66% off Coveron today, just $4.74 a month. Visit Coveron.com/KIM.📩 Send this to someone who has a Carnival, Princess or Holland America cruise on the calendar (or has ever stepped on one).