Economic Research Institute Data Breach

Those who were recipients of the Lake Placid-based Deo B. Colburn Foundation Scholarship for the 2003-2004 academic school year are now at risk for identity theft.

The Deo B. Colburn Foundation filed a 2002 tax return, form 990, which included the names and information of over 340 students who received money from this foundation. Their information included their names, addresses, academic institutions, amount of money received and their Social Security numbers.

The problem started when a past recipient of this scholarship, Lindsey Pashow, searched her name on Google and found the document publicly on the internet.

It is unknown how long the information was made publicly available, but there is talk that the document was available on the web since around 2005. While there is still speculation as to who was responsible for posting this information (the IRS or the foundation itself), the information has been removed and there is currently no evidence that the information has been used for the purpose of identity theft.

Still with information like Social Security numbers available to the public it would be prudent to use a credit report monitoring service or identity theft protection service