Georgia Staffing Company Under Investigation After Sensitive Paperwork Left in Dumpster

Staffing Solutions, a closed company in Gwinnett County, Georgia, recently had paperwork arise in a dumpster months after the company went under. The documents included resumes and applications that included personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, physical addresses, and even medical records.

It is unknown how the documents ended up unshredded at the dumpster, and there is currently an investigation underway. Anyone who may believe their information may have been included in this incident, or if anyone has any information regarding who may have dumped the documents, they are encouraged to contact the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs. These individuals should also consider identity theft protection to ensure their personal information is not used fraudulently.

Cleaning Crew Disposes of Student Financial Information in Dumpster

Isaac Miller elementary School in Santa Maria, California is currently investigation a situation in which boxes of unshredded financial information of students on free or reduced price school lunches were found in an outside dumpster. It is believed that the files were accidentally thrown away by a cleaning crew that was organizing storage rooms in the school during the school break. The files were found by a resident throwing out trash, and was reported to the school and the police. The records date back several years, which means that hundreds of thousands of students and families may be affected by this incident.

For individuals who have students at Isaac Miller Elementary School, they are highly recommended to closely watch their financial records and to consider identity theft protection services to ensure that their data is safe and not being used inappropriately for fraud or identity theft.

Social Security Numbers Inadvertently Posted Online for Public Viewing

The Social Security numbers of over 1,300 individuals and federal ID numbers of over 200 businesses were inadvertently posted online by the Vermont Department of Taxes. This personal data was available online for approximately two hours, and records show that the file was accessed three times. While the department was able to pin down two of the three parties who accessed the files, the third individual is unknown and is continuing to be investigated.

The Vermont Department of Taxes is mailing out letters to individuals and businesses who may have been affected, advising them of the proper steps to protect their personal data with credit protection services. In the meantime, the tax department is reviewing their safeguard and disclosure practices to ensure that a situation such as this does not occur in the future.

San Francisco College May Have Been Victim of Security Leak for Over a Decade

It has recently been discovered that a computer virus at City College of San Francisco has quite possibly been stealing personal information of thousands of students, staff, and other individuals who may have used the computers at the school’s computer lab.

The computer virus has been key-logging and transmitting information to various countries, such as Russia and China. This may have allowed credit card numbers, passwords, and other personal information of computer users to be submitted to individuals who are using the information for identity theft. It is believed that this virus may have been on the computers for over ten years, which means that thousands of individuals could be affected by this.

The computer lab was shut down while the IT department looked into the situation, and students and alumni have been contacting City College of San Francisco and the police with questions regarding the situation. At this point in time, anyone that may have used the computer lab at the college is encouraged to check their credit reports, either manually or with a credit report monitoring service to ensure no unusual or suspicious activity is happening on their financial accounts.

Stolen Laptop with Drug Testing Company Testers and Technicians’ Personal Information Leaves Risk for Identity Theft

Aegis Science Corporation of New Hampshire is notifying individuals of possible risk for identity theft after a laptop and external hard drive are stolen from an employee’s vehicle near the end of November. Neither items were encrypted, though the laptop was password protected.

The laptop and hard drive included the Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth dates, and contact information of both individuals who had undergone drug testing as well as the collection technicians. Both are at risk for identity theft if the stolen goods are hacked for their sensitive information.

Individuals who were affected by this incident are being sent a letter int he mail with information on how to obtain two years of credit monitoring services through Equifax.

Fingerprinted Individuals in Oregon at Risk for Identity Theft after Computer is Stolen

The Oregon Department of Human Services is in the process of contacting individuals through email and physical mailing addresses after a computer with sensitive information has gone missing.

The computer was believed to be stolen from the Department of Human Services (DHS) Gateway Center in Springfield, and contained private information of individuals who were fingerprinted at either the Willamette Street office in Eugene or the Gateway Center in Springfield. Information stored on the computer included Social Security numbers, full names, and other data. While the computer was encrypted and password protected, there is always a risk of identity theft regardless.

Oregon DHS suggests individuals set up fraud alerts on their account, and call the established hotline at 1-855-360-4554 with any questions or information. Individuals who are concerned about their identity can register for identity theft protection.

Stratfor Targeted by Hackers, Credit Cards and Addresses Dumped Online

Stratfor of Austin, Texas was accessed in December by hackers, who immediately posted sensitive information stolen from the site online for the public. Thousands of credit card numbers and home addresses were mined during this collection, and leaves thousands at risk for identity theft.

The attacks were viable due to a supposed 200 GB worth of information that was unencrypted. Leaving such sensitive data unencrypted may cause not only extensive identify theft, but embarrassment for such security-related companies such as Stratfor.

Protecting yourself from identity theft due to instances such as these is as easy as signing up for credit protection services. You can protect your Social Security number and your financial accounts by simply registering for services in order to keep hackers and third-parties from accessing and opening new accounts under your name–without your consent.

Identity Thief Indicted for Stealing Skymiles

Money isn’t the only thing that an identity thief can steal. In fact, some deal in completely different forms of currency. One example: frequent flier miles. For example, Richard Williams of Savannah, Georgia, was recently indicted for conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and other crimes for trying to use other people’s American Airlines and Delta SkyMiles Memberships to buy travel tickets, merchandise, and hotel rooms. It’s unclear whether he was able to successfully make these transactions, but it is a fact that he had several individuals’ personal information, and that he tried before he was caught.

So why is this of interest? Because it shows that even something as mundane as a frequent flier miles account needs to be protected. If a thief has the number for yours, he can use it to redeem your points and possibly get more of your information. All of the purchases will be your responsibility, and you will be responsible for anything that goes wrong, which the identity thief will not be too worried about.

You should protect your frequent flier account information just like you do any other of your personal information. Don’t carry the card with your number on it in your purse or wallet and don’t share it with anyone who doesn’t need to know it. Also, do not autosave it in your computer. Even if you only use your computer on a secure network, this is no guarantee that a thief is not going to be able to hack your account and get information out of your Internet files.

It can be harder to find out if someone is using your frequent flier mile account illegally than it can be to discover fraud on something like your credit card accounts because it will not show up on your credit report. You may need to log in or call the airline to check your balance and usage at least once a month so that you are not blindsided by this crime or at least have them email you your balance on a regular basis.

In the end its like everything else related to identity theft prevention. Its up to you to monitor your information and account records whether you do it all by yourself or have the assistance of an identity theft protection or credit monitoring service.

Employee Steals Patient Records, Hospital Offers Credit Monitoring Service

Loma Linda credit monitoring service from TransUnion. This action is taken after the hospital caught an employee with patient records around December 12th. The records included Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other sensitive information.

The employees has been fired, and the incident is under continued investigation to determine if the information was used inappropriately. In the meantime, letters have been sent to those affected with free credit monitoring service sign-up information.

Washington Physician Notifies Patients of Data Breach After USB Drive is Lost

Gene S. J. Liaw M.D. of Washington is notifying affected patients of a recent data breach involved in a lost USB drive from his office. This USB drive contained patient information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security number, among other sensitive data. This USB drive has been missing since the beginning of April, 2011.

Although the whereabouts of the drive have been undetermined, Dr. Liaw has been contacting the patients whose information was stored on the drive and notifying them of the loss. Since then, extra precautions have been taken, including encrypting the data on the drives and keeping such drives in locked storage.

If you were a patient of Dr. Liaw in Washington and are concerned about your personal information, it is a smart move to consider signing up for identity theft protection service to ensure protection of your data.

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