Triple Alert Credit Monitoring Advised By Occidental Petroleum Corporation

The company Occidental Petroleum Corporation, otherwise known as Occidental, discovered that a former employee of their corporation had access to and emailed himself personal information of his coworkers. This information included names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers. It is unknown at this time the number of those who may be affected.

A lawsuit was filed mid-December, and the company was informed that the information was mistakenly received and not used in any way. Even so, the company urges those who are past or present employees of their corporation to protect themselves from identity theft.
A letter was sent to all those who may be involved, and included the information needed for signing up for credit monitoring service. Although it is believed their information was not mishandled, the corporation advises those who have worked for the company to continue with Triple Alert credit monitoring to ensure their safety.

Laptop Stolen fromUniversity of Oregon Youth Transition Program (YTP)

In October of last year, a laptop was stolen from a University of Oregon employee. This laptop belonged to the Youth Transition Program, or YTP, and although it was password protected, it still contained files that included social security numbers, names and other private information of past and present youth transition program participants. It is believed that 2,000 names are at risk.

Although the YTP sent notification letters to all of those who may be affected, these letters did not reach everyone due to no forwarding addresses. Anyone who participated in the YTP between 2004 and 2007 are encouraged to watch their credit reports and financial accounts closely for strange or unusual activity. Past participants can also sign up for a credit monitoring service to protect their identities from intentional theft.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development Breach Causes More Financial Hardship for Unemployed

During a tough economy, some unemployed men and women in Indiana are dealing with their money from the state program being stolen.

With unemployment in Indiana, those who are assisted by the program receive a prepaid debit card with their unemployment checks automatically deposited into the account. Unfortunately, someone got a hold of the account numbers and has been withdrawing money from ATMs in Mexico.

Apparently, there was a data breach with the company that handles the ATM transactions of the debit cards, and it is believed that this is the source of the stolen information.

Unfortunately, at this time, the state cannot guarantee a refund of the stolen money, and have notified those who may have been affected to handle their debit card information with increased security to avoid being another victim to this malicious crime. There will likely by some form of refund from some responsible party but at this time that is unclear. This is one reason why it is important to have an identity theft protection service watching your back – so that you can let them do the legwork in recovering your money.

Ohio State University Breach Affects 18,000 Students

After some students reported finding their personal data on internet search engines, Ohio State University began to investigate the issue.

Apparently, a vendor working for the student health insurance division accidentally exposed the computer server to the Internet, there for allowing access to the public. The data made accessible included social security numbers, addresses, names, and coverage dates for those enrolled in the school’s health insurance plan from 2005 to 2006.

This data breach affects about 18,000 past and present students. Ohio State University sent letters to those who may have been affected, and has created a website and hotline number for those who may have additional questions regarding their personal data.

Students are at risk to identity theft due to the nature of the information exposed and should take steps to protect their credit and good names. Compare the best identity theft protection services on our homepage and find the service that is right for you.

Merrill Lynch Applicants Should Seek Credit Protection

On December 19th, an employee of one of Merrill Lynch’s third-party consulting services firms was beaten and burglarized in his home. Of the various items stolen was a computer that had the personal information of past and present financial advisors and employee applicants. Social Security numbers are also at risk.

Merrill Lynch reports that the computer did not include any personal or financial information or client data.

The incident has been reported to authorities, and the company is in the process of notifying all those that may be affected by mail.

Those affected should consider a credit protection service to protect their credit and identities especially since Social Security numbers may have been exposed. Even though financial information was not compromised a SSN in the wrong hands can lead to identity theft.

New Hampshire Lakes Region General Hospital Breach

A package being shipped by UPS did not make it to its desired destination, and this worries many at this New Hampshire hospital.

The package shipped from Massachusetts but tracking shows the package never arrived to the Laconia hospital. In the package was information of some 1,500 patients, including names, services and diagnostic codes. There was no financial data included in this documentation so patients don’t need credit protection due to this breach unless they are otherwise worried about identity theft.

Pulte Homes Las Vegas Division Pays for Credit Monitoring

Pulte Homes Inc., of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has an office located in Las Vegas, and recently, one of their offices was broken into, and among the items taken were computer tapes holding personal data on customers, including names, financial information and driver’s license numbers.

The theft occurred mid-November, and those customers affected were notified mid-December of the breach.

It is advised in the company’s letter to their customers that they sign up for Experian’s Triple Advantage Premium credit monitoring service at the company’s expense. This service will notify customers of possible fraud or identity theft. This expense is unknown for the company, but they state is a small price to pay for the protection of their customers. Customers may also want to consider placing a fraud alert on their credit report.

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