12,000 Patients Notified of Former Employee’s Wrongdoing and Plan to Sell Medical Identity Records

Tracy Thomas of Dallas, Texas was arrested with her boyfriend, Louis Tatum, after authorities found out that Tracy was storing and possessing patients’ billing and insurance information outside of her cashier position in the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s financial department. Thomas was working with her boyfriend and to obtain the records to sell and profit from through a identity theft ring.

Although Thomas was caught with billing and insurance information of just 21 patients, the hospital is alerting all 12,000 patients whose billing information could have been accessed by Thomas. Though a much smaller group of patients are at risk, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has decided to err on the side of caution and notify all patients whose billing information was accessible by the former employee.

For anyone who had their billing and insurance information processed through the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, it is strongly recommended that they participate in a credit monitoring service to ensure that their personal data is not at risk after this incident occurred. It is unknown if any other health, billing or insurance records were removed from the hospital’s billing department by Thomas during her employment, and patients are strongly cautioned to maintain a close eye on their financial credit reports and medical records to catch any suspicious activity or changes. TrustedID may be a better choice for your identity theft protection in this case.

Stolen Laptop Causes Concern For Employees of Arrow Electronics, Inc.

Mid February, 2010, a laptop containing current and former employees’ personal information was reported stolen from the office of Arrow Electronics, Inc. in Melville, New York. Among the information were employees’ names, addresses, and other contact information, and in some cases, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers, coupled with security codes and their expiration dates. This included both personal and corporate credit cards.

Arrow Electronics, Inc. immediately contacted the local police to report the burglary from their office on 25 Hub Drive, and continued to follow through with required notifications and steps required to handle the security breach per state and federal laws. A letter has been sent to some 4,000 past and present employees of the company, notifying them of the incident, and included information on obtaining 12 months of free credit monitoring services on the company’s behalf.

There has been no evidence that the credit cards have been used for fraudulent purposes after the incidence, and there have been no reports of identity theft as a result of the exposed Social Security numbers, however the company is taking all necessary steps to protect those who may have been affected by this security breach.

Employee Eavesdropped on Phone Calls to Obtain Credit Card Numbers to Live Lavish Lifestyle

Christopher Albert Fregapane and co-worker Michael Northcutt of Eclipse Property Solutions, a St. Petersburg marketing firm, have been arrested for identity theft and charged for scheming to defraud.

Fregapane and Northcutt would eavesdrop on other co-workers over cubicles to obtain credit card information from customers of the company. This credit information was used by Fregapane and Northcutt to live a lavish lifestyle–ordering expensive dinners, furniture, limousines and trips and stays out of town.

It is unknown how many customers’ information was stolen and used, but it is recommended that anyone associated with the company follow up on their credit reports and monitor for identity theft occurrences with credit monitoring services.

Employee Charged with Identity Theft After Accessing Insurance Billing Information

A Georgia company, MedAssets, just recently notified the University of Texas Medical Branch, who they work with for insurance billing and collections, of an employee who had been charged with identity theft after accessing information on their systems.

There have been arrests of Katina Rochelle Candrick, 33, and two others being charged with identity theft, bank fraud, and conspiracy.

This incident leaves approximately 1200 patients at risk–or perhaps the identity theft has already occurred. Their Social Security numbers, names, and addresses were accessed, and identity theft protection services would be an ideal situation for those worried about their financial future.

Equifax Credit Reporting Agency Sends Out Mail with Social Security Numbers Visible in Mailing Address Window

Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies, has filed to protect consumers by sending out W-2 forms to their employees during tax season.

Equifax, along with Experian and TransUnion, is a credit bureau that offers services to protect others from identity theft. It’s an example of irony at its best–however, Equifax is allowing those affected to sign up for a free year of their Credit Watch Gold credit monitoring service through it’s company for anyone concerned of the risk of identity theft and fraud on their financial accounts.

Social Security Numbers Printed on Envelopes and Sent Through Mail

The California Department of Health Care Services leaves almost 50,000 elderly patients’ information at risk after sending letters to those in the Adult Day Health Care program with their Social Security numbers printed on their mailing address labels.

The department acknowledges the error, and has contacted those affected with follow-up letters, and they encourage recipients to destroy the envelopes and carefully monitor their credit reports and/or contact their credit reporting agencies to ensure no suspicious activity has occurred. Credit protection is highly recommended to those who may be at risk for identity theft.

Stolen Laptops Raise Security Issues with Florida Health Information Company

In December of 2009, AvMed Health Plan in Gainesville, Florida discovered the theft of two company laptops with personally identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers, names, addresses, and personal health information, store on the systems. Although it is believed that the risk of identity theft is somewhat low, there is still a risk that needs to be acted upon by the company.

AvMed Health Plan has set up credit monitoring services for the 200,000 people who may have their information at risk for identity theft.

Currently, investigation is underway, and speculations include that the theft was an inside job, as the laptops were locked in a conference room, and only employees, security and the cleaning crew had keys to access the room.

In the meantime, credit monitoring protection is available to those who may have had their information at risk during this data breach.

Wyoming Department of Health leaves Health Insurance Information Exposed Online

The Wyoming Department of Health is doing damage control after learning that the personal information of about 9,000 children is at risk for misuse after the information turned up online unsecure and accessible.

Their system shows the information was accessed 94 times, but they are unsure what was business access and what was public access. Officials are still investigating, but in the meantime, credit monitoring services by Debix are being offered to families whose children’s data may be at risk for identity theft.

Social Security Numbers Visible Through Students’ Mail

The University of Texas at El Paso has notified all students of an incident involving their tax documents. Due to the university’s folding machine, the students’ tax forms were sent through the mail with the Social Security numbers visible through the address window.

The University has notified their 15,000 students of the incident, and reminds them to monitor their credit reports for unusual activities or sign up for an identity theft protection service.