As many as 350,000 Capcom players and employees have been spammed by ransomware attacks and data breaches at Capcom, the Japanese publisher of such classic video games as "Street Fighter," "Resident Evil," "Mega Man," "Devil May Cry" and "Ace Attorney, phishing attacks, and identity theft: Ace Attorney

No passwords or credit cards appear to have been compromised, but if you have a password for your Capcom account, change it, and if you have made purchases from Capcom's online store, check your credit card statements. You may want to check your credit card statement.

Earlier this month, Capcom announced that its internal network had been breached and data encrypted and stolen by the cybercrime organization Ragnar Locker, but Capcom reassured its customers that no data appears to have been accessed by the thieves.

That is no longer true. The company announced yesterday (November 16) that "some personal information has been ...... We have confirmed that it has been compromised," and stated that other personal information may have been accessed as well. (Some of the stolen data has already been posted online by Bleeping Computer and the BBC.)

Data known to have been stolen includes names, addresses, signatures, and passport information of current and former employees. Data suspected to have been stolen includes names, addresses, dates of birth, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of customers, shareholders, and former employees.

According to Capcom, the personal information of up to 350,000 people in Japan and North America may have been compromised.

According to the company, no credit card information was stolen and no passwords were mentioned. However, the type of data stolen increased the risk that affected Capcom customers and employees would see phishing e-mails and more spam attempting to trick recipients into giving up their passwords.

Stolen names, birth dates, and addresses also increase the risk of identity theft. In North America, often only a person's U.S. social security number or Canadian social insurance number is required to open a bank account, obtain a driver's license, or perform other operations as that person.

If you are a U.S. resident and a Capcom customer or account holder, consider implementing a credit freeze to lock down your account and use one of the best identity theft protection services available.