One ID Pro Blog

Utah Department of Technology Services (DTS) discovered a data breach April 2nd affecting 780,000 people.

It was discovered that a hacker from Eastern Europe illegally accessed a DTS server containing Social Security numbers for the Medicaid claims.

The department reported that 280,000 people had their Social Security numbers stolen and about 500,000 others had other personal data, such as name, date of birth and address, compromised.

The breach involved both Medicaid patients as well as recipients of Children’s Health Insurance Plan, which provides insurance coverage for children without other health insurance and who meet income guidelines.

These servers also typically store names of physicians, national provider identifiers, addresses, tax identification numbers and procedure codes for billing.

The Utah state government is offering one year of credit-monitoring services to patients who had their Social Security numbers compromised.

The FBI and local Utah law enforcement have launched investigations into the breach.

 A data breach at a payments processing firm has potentially compromised credit and debit card information from all of the major card brands, representatives from MasterCard and Visa said on Friday.

MasterCard said it has alerted payment card issuers “regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk.”

The company also said the breach is the subject of an ongoing forensic review by an independent data security organization.

Visa released a… Continue reading

On March 13th it was discovered that three University of Tampa data files were accidentally made accessible to the public putting students and faculty at risk.

The files included personal information, including Social Security numbers and photos of over 36,000 past and present students and faculty members.  

One files contained 6,818 records of Fall 2011 students. The other two files contained information about nearly 29,540 faculty, staff, and students from January… Continue reading

For the 12th year in a row, identity theft was the number one consumer complaint.  Fifteen percent of the 1.8 million complaints filed with the FTC through its online Consumer Sentinel Network last year involved identity theft.

Under identity theft, government benefits or documents fraud made up 27% of the complaints, credit card fraud made up 14% and telephone or utilities fraud made up 13%, the FTC… Continue reading

Central Connecticut State University says a security breach has exposed current and former faculty, staff, and student employees.  People who have worked for the school dating back to 1998 could have been exposed.

James Estrada, the University’s Chief Information Officer, says the computer was infected by a “Z-Bot” virus, a malicious software program that exposed the Social Security Numbers of 18,275 CCSU individuals to potential risk.

“After conducting a forensic… Continue reading

“Taxpayers should be careful and avoid falling into a trap with the Dirty Dozen,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “Scam artists will tempt people in-person, on-line and by e-mail with misleading promises about lost refunds and free money. Don’t be fooled by these scams.”

The following is the Dorty Dozen tax scams of 2012:

1. Identity theft: “An IRS notice informing a taxpayer that more than one return was

Bank of America customers were sent letters and issued new debit and credit cards after a third-party breach possibly compromised their personal information.

The letters sent by Bank of America inform customers of a possible breach that may have exposed their account information. The bank’s spokeswoman did not reveal how many accountholders were affected, but she stated the institution is taking necessary steps to address known security… Continue reading

Indiana University Health Goshen Hospital was hit with a computer virus which put the personal information of around 12,000 people at risk.

“We are very sorry it happened here,” said Melanie McDonald, spokesperson for the hospital.

The breach included patients and individuals who applied for jobs using the hospital’s website.  Those affected are expected to receive a letter explaining that a server storing their names, addresses and Social Security numbers… Continue reading

Nearly 2 million New York utility customers have had personal data compromised in a recent data breach.

The New York State Public Service Commission said on January 23rd that they were looking into the incident in which a software consulting firm employee gained unauthorized access to the databases of two New York based utility companies.  The contractor was working for a parent company of both New York State Electric and Gas… Continue reading

An identity theft ring operating across the country has been selling the identities of hundreds of Puerto Rican US citizens to illegal immigrants since 2009. It is believed to be the largest single fraud case ever for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities said Wednesday. The identity theft ring provided Social Security cards, birth certificates, and other identification documents, federal officials said.

Fifty people are facing charges of selling… Continue reading