After Equifax recently sent out IRS W-2 statements to most of its current employees and some former employees, they discovered that some employees’ control ID numbers were partially or completely viewable in the return address window of the envelope used by the payroll vendor. In an unspecified number of cases for U.S. employees, the control…
Month: February 2010
Customer Vs. Bank: Who is Liable for Fraud Losses?
Linda McGlasson writes: At first this court case was a curiosity: Experi-Metal Inc. (EMI), a Michigan-based metal supply company, sued Comerica Bank, claiming that the bank exposed its customers to phishing attacks. But now this story shapes up as a significant test case for the banking industry, raising several key questions that must be answered…
Widespread Data Breaches Uncovered by FTC Probe
The Federal Trade Commission has notified almost 100 organizations that personal information, including sensitive data about customers and/or employees, has been shared from the organizations’ computer networks and is available on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks to any users of those networks, who could use it to commit identity theft or fraud. The agency also has…
Devotion to Duty
Too good not to share and another reason to check XKCD every day:
Losses from identity theft skyrocket
Jennifer Waters puts a human face on the impact of identity theft in a piece in The Buffalo News: Identity theft and fraud have ruined Dave Crouse’s life. In less than six months, $900,000 in merchandise, gambling and telephone- service charges were siphoned out of his debit card. His attempts to salvage his finances have…
UK: Patients' secrets dumped in alley
David Mercer reports: Medical records containing details of hundreds of Wigan patients have been found dumped by a former health centre. Highly personal information in three diaries was discovered outside the disused building in Tram Street, Platt Bridge. It includes names, addresses and medical complaints of patients requiring doctors’ visits in 1988, 1990 and 1991….