Pennsylvania Company Loses Portable Computer Drive with 280,000 Medicaid Members’ Personal Information

Keystone Mercy Health Plan and AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan, two companies that insure Medicaid members in Pennsylvania are currently investigating the loss of a portable computer drive that the companies used at community health fairs.

The portable hard drive included names, addresses, and medical information of over a quarter million Pennsylvania Medicaid members, with some complete and partial Social Security numbers as well.

The investigation is underway to find the portable hard drive. In the meantime, the two companies are providing one year of free credit monitoring services to those who had their partial or whole Social Security numbers available on the hard drive.

New Mexico Tech’s System Stored Publicly Available Files with Social Security Numbers

A large security gap in New Mexico Tech’s Computer Center leaves files with Social Security numbers accessible and public.

Apparently, anyone with a TCC account would have been able to log in and have access to some 3,000 records and, if in the wrong hands, could cause some serious identity theft damage to those whose information appeared online and searchable.

If you or someone else you know may be concerned about their information being available online through the New Mexico Tech’s computer center should immediately consider identity theft protection to ensure the safety and protection of their financial information and personal data.

Twitter: An open book

The administrators of Twitter, a popular social networking site where people share short details about their daily lives, shared a little more than they bargained to last year around this time. An employee that is fairly high up in the rankings was a victim of an email hack that gave an unauthorized person access to hundreds of confidential documents. These documents range from highly confidential business information, such as lists of people who interviewed with the company and ideas for future acquisitions, to more mundane information, such as lunch menu.

According to Twitter’s blog, the hacker used the woman’s personal account, which was a Gmail account, as a gateway to get into Google Apps, where Twitter execs often shared company details.

Of course, as this is the age of information sharing, the person who found, well stole, this information, offered to share it with members of the press, both online and offline, even sending the information unsolicited. Thus, the documents soon started to appear on the Web, and the word was out. This spawned an ethical debate among members of the blogosphere as to whether publishing stolen files was okay, as long as they were not stolen by you.

Theories vary on exactly what happened, but what is obvious is that the Twitter employee did not do enough to keep her email secure. A lot of times hackers can access people’s email accounts just by being clever enough to guess the password, and this was likely the case here. Twitter even posted on its blog that it is very important to pick strong passwords.

So what is a strong password? Simply, it is one that a person, or a computer program identity thieves use to help them determine passwords, will not be able to come up with easily. This rules out your birthday, your address, your last name, you pet’s name, the city where you live, and a lot of other very obvious information anyone that knows the slightest bit about you can probably figure out. It also involves making your password longer than four letters, which can easily be randomized, due to the fact that there aren’t too many combinations you can make.

Other things to incorporate in your password are numbers and special characters. No one said that your email password has to be, well, a word. Abbreviations can work well, as long as they aren’t abbreviations of places you live and work. For example, you could use the abbreviation for “I’m typing up a blog right now,” or “ituabrn.” Feel free to steal that one. Don’t forget the special characters and numbers too!

While this particular incident is more an act of self-promotion and hubris than it is of identity theft, it did send an important message to the public. Protect your information now, while you can. If you don’t it won’t remain yours and only yours for very much longer. You may even see it show up on one of your favorite websites. Or, should I say, your new least favorite website?

Identity theft protection services can not only help protect your information but if it does get out they can notify you right away before any damage is done. Indeed, a worthwhile investment in peace of mind seeing that plans are available for less than $10 a month. Shouldn’t you consider identity protection today?

Laptop Stolen During Vegas Trip Causes Data Breach of 35,000

An employee of a county department of Accomack, Virginia took his work computer to Las Vegas on vacation with him, only to have it stolen and leaving some 35,000 county residents’ information at risk for identity theft.

The files on the laptop are believed to include names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of Accomack county residents. The laptop was not taken to Las Vegas with permission; however, the employee who is being held responsible for the incident remains employed.

Fraud alerts are encouraged to be placed on the credit reports of any Accomack County residents who are concerned their information may be at risk for identity theft, and encourages them to utilize an identity theft protection service to their benefit.

Credit Monitoring Offered To Veterans Whose Information Was Sent to Wrong Addresses

Almost 4,000 veterans receiving benefits are being enrolled in credit monitoring services after a set of mailings were sent to the wrong mailing addresses and included the veterans’ Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information.

The company that was contracted to handle the mailings from the Boston Veterans Benefit Administration, Performance Analysis and Integrity, inadvertently merged veteran names and information with an old address database, causing their information to be sent to their old mailing addresses, which in some case, was no longer the same as their current addresses.

The company apologizes for the mistake, and has therefor decided to offer credit monitoring services to those who may be affected by this large error.

Fake NFL Player Another Identity Theft Example

Some celebrities claim that their lives are hard, with the paparazzi following them 24/7, the mobs of fans that approach them in public, and the complete lack of privacy in their personal lives. It can be hard to feel sorry for them when they’re raking in millions – or even billions – of dollars each year, though.

However, I do feel a bit sorry for them when they become victims of crimes, such as when obsessed fans try to steal their lawn ornaments – or when identity thieves pretend to be them to try to gain access to their fortunes. This is not just another tale of celebrity woe; it really does happen. On December 10 of last year, Amadeus Harlan was convicted of pretending to be a player for the Denver Broncos. He used his “status” to obtain expensive cars and get loans that he was not actually qualified to hold.

Other similar crimes include a case in 2005 where Carlos Lomax opened 14 credit cards in the name of actor Will Smith and charged $33,000 on them; plus charged $81,000 on additional credit cards in the name of Steve Smith, a former basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks.

While you still may not feel sorry for these celebrities, these cases should at least give you some pause. Why? Because it should make you realize just how gullible some people are – and how that can hurt you. Even though Harlan had no proof that he was a player for the Broncos, since he, well, wasn’t, people believed he was on the team just because he said he was. Same goes for Lomax. The only “proof” he had that he was Will Smith was some information he was able to find on the Internet, probably through a couple fan club blogs.

In neither case did people bother to go through a lengthy verification process to ensure these men were who they said they were. Whether it is because the two men were exceedingly convincing or because the people involved didn’t want to embarrass the “celebrities,” the thieves had little trouble accomplishing their goals. Thankfully, both were eventually caught and exposed.

If thieves can be pretty successful in impersonating famous people, what chances do we have when we are not so publicly recognizable? Who’s to say that an identity thief isn’t really Mary Jones or Fred Brown if many can’t even determine that he isn’t Will Smith, who is known around the world?

This is another argument as to why you need identity theft protection . You simply cannot trust other people to look out for you in this regard; you have to look out for yourself. This is true if you’re a famous person with an entourage of 200 or if you are a lowly commoner with a family of four.

Negligence Leaves Almost 3,000 National Guard Member’s Information Available Online

Over 2,600 names and Social Security numbers were found public and prominent on a National Guard website, specifically that of the Mississippi National Guard. These were thought to be posted and public for several weeks, and have been pulled since they became aware of the accidental posting.

Most of the records that were posted were those of the 155th Brigade Combat Team, and they have been notified that the information was public and accessible online.

Anyone who feels that their identity may be at risk due to this lack of security is encouraged to obtain identity theft protection services and to closely monitor your credit reports for suspicious or unusual activity.

Computer Flaw Makes Personal Data Attainable, Company Offers Credit Monitoring

AmeriCorps, a federal program, recently found that their website had a security hole that dates back to 2006. This security weakness allows one to manipulate the site’s web address in order to access personal information, such as names, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

As the company works to strengthen their security system and their website password requirements, they are offering a range of services to help protect their credit, including credit monitoring services and identity theft protection at no cost to the applicants and participants of AmeriCorps.

Medical Files Found in Dumpster in Omaha, Nebraska

A concerned person contacted a local news station after finding hundreds of medical files in a dumpster, left unshredded and unattended. All of the files belonged to one doctor of Gastroenterology Consultants, Dr. John Westmore.

John Westmore’s wife told the news station that the files were given to a company to properly dispose of. However, social security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and sensitive medical information about each patient was found untouched in the dumpster.

If you or anyone else has been a patient of this company and is worried that their personal information is at risk, you are strongly encouraged to sign up for the best credit monitoring or identity theft protection service to ensure the safety and privacy of your financial and medical information.

Auctioned Hospital Leads Employees Worried About Identity Theft

A number of old, past employee files were auctioned off along with the Gulf Pines Hospital in Port St. Joe, Florida, causing employees to worry about HIPAA law violations and identity theft that could occur if these files get into the wrong hands.

Employee information, such as personally identifiable data, driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, and other work-related information are stored at the hospital, and even prior to the auction, they were unable to go in to obtain or remove their personal information.

There have been calls to several people, including state attorneys, and no one has helped the employees remove the files that are stored inside the hospital. The purchaser of the property has not returned phone calls, either.

For anyone who may be concerned about identity theft, it is important that they monitor their credit or use an identity theft protection services to ensure their personal data and information is safe, secure, and not in the wrong hands.

Next Page »