VA Advises Veterans on Information Theft
Tuesday May 23, 2006
The Veteran’s Administration (VA) has issued advice for the 26.5 million veterans whose personal information may have been stolen from the home of a VA employee sometime last month. The VA has now clarified that the stolen information included names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. According to the VA, the 26.5 million names represent every military veteran discharged since 1975, and possibly earlier if the individual had filed a VA claim. Clearly, the information stolen exposes these veterans to a heightened risk of identity theft.
As a first measure of security, the VA advises all veterans to carefully monitor bank statements, credit card statements and any statements relating to recent financial transactions. Any unusual or suspect activity should be reported immediately to the financial institution involved and the Federal Trade Commission at toll free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Additional advice can be found at www.firstgov.gov.
Additionally, the VA has setup a toll free, manned call center where veterans can get more information and advice. The toll free number is 1-800-FED INFO (1-800-333-4636). The call center will operate from 8 am to 9 pm (EDT), Monday-Saturday.
Also See: Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
Comments
I am not surprised at the theft of the information regarding all of us that have served our country. The VA is all we have - and obviously they don’t care enough to have taken protective measures to defend the privacy of those who have served. What if we had taken that attitude towards our country? We have to fight for what is coming to us - and the VA lets the states set up the “fine print” to confuse us even more when we more to a different state. I am a disabled veteran and am so tired of the lies being told to me - and the “we’ll get back to you”, which very rarely happens, at least for me. We have to deal with this system - it is all we have - why not try treating us with the dignity we deserve - or is there an under lying message we are missing?
Speaking of hidden things… The VA says “the 26.5 million names represent every military veteran discharged since 1975, and possibly earlier if the individual had filed a VA claim.”
Whoa! The TOTAL combined number of living US veterans AND dependants, as reported by the VA are… 26.5 million, with more than two-thirds of them having separated from the military BEFORE 1975.
Also, The VA is only supposed to have personal data like that stolen on veterans who have actually filed for benefits, which is nowhere close to ALL of them.
The VA doesn’t want to encrypt or scramble data because it makes it hard for them to do their jobs. Now they have made it hard for us to live our lives in peace without worry of identity theft. Thanks VA!!