State Guard members at risk of identity theft
MADISON — About 1,700 Wisconsin soldiers are among 131,000 nationally whose personal information was on a laptop computer stolen July 27 from a National Guard Bureau contractor, according to a Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard press release.
The computer contained names, home and e-mail addresses plus Social Security numbers of current and former Army Guard members enrolled in the Army National Guard's Bonus and Incentives program, the release said.
The Wisconsin National Guard is alerting soldiers of the incident and its potential threat while the National Guard Bureau will notify all affected personnel by letter by Saturday, Aug. 15.
The National Guard set up special Web site about the information security breach at www.ng.mil. In addition, guard members may call toll-free at 1-877-481-4957 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Guard members also can take these additional steps to determine if their identity has been stolen:
-- Check credit reports such as Equifax, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com; Experian, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com; TransUnion, 1-800-916-8800, www.transunion.com.
-- Watch for unexpected bills and for routine bills that are late or missing.
Guard members, regardless if they have been victims of fraud, can contact one of the three credit reporting companies list above to place a 90-day fraud alert on their credit lines. Soldiers on active duty are entitled to a 12-month fraud alert on credit lines.
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Aug 12, 2009 at 11:22 a.m.
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This sort of stuff happens all the time with the military. It isn't the first or last time my husband's information has been at risk. The problem is that the military still uses their socials for EVERYTHING! It is all over the place. This could just as easily happen if I dropped my wallet that has my miltary ID with both my husbands and my socials on it.
They handled the situation very well just like they always have by calling us and sending letters on what we can do and letting us know directly if the soldier was in the database on the stolen computer.
Mistakes happen....
Aug 8, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.
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w8nc: "I love that these people are responsible for protecting our country, but they can't even figure out a way to protect the information on their laptop computer or the laptop itself."
I totally understand the frustration, but I believe your throwing blame where it doesn't belong (kind of that is). The Story says in the first paragraph it was a National Guard Bureau "contractor", that had the laptop stolen. Those can be almost any fly by night companies, or well known companies, like the Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz, to the Belleville Shoe Mfg., Co., Belleville, Ill. Thats where-in, I believe the problem is. There are thousands of these Defense contractors, that once given a Security Clearance, are given access to this kind of personal data, & not only access, but they're permitted (if not directly, then indirectly, by not punishing them) to carry this data around in laptops, to show it to whoever they please. Once that can of worms was opened, this kind of event was bound to happen.
Aug 8, 2009 at 5:59 p.m.
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I THANK all that have served and who are still serving. I just hope none of them are effected by this. What a nightmare for anyone but can you imagine being half way around the world and finding this out and not being here to try to fix it? Good luck and God Speed. And Thank You to all vets active or not......
Aug 8, 2009 at 4:32 a.m.
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It was a "civilian" contractor....not the military, who lost the computer. Know the facts before write something stupid, w8nc. Oh, we serve, so you can say things like that. Apologies.
Aug 7, 2009 at 5:55 p.m.
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I love that these people are responsible for protecting our country, but they can't even figure out a way to protect the information on their laptop computer or the laptop itself.
Aug 7, 2009 at 5:37 p.m.
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Just wanted to share a free victims resource page for thoes who may need it.
http://www.optoutdetectives.com/victims....
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