Larry Celona and Christina Carrega-Woodby report:
A marijuana bust led police to uncover a massive identity theft operation that officials at the prestigious university tried to hush up, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Joel Scott and James Giscombe Jr., who work with patients treated at the school, were busted last summer for allegedly lifting credit card information from more than 350 victims using a mini card skimmer.
Read more on NY Post.
The reporters allege that NYU College of Dentistry knew about the problem because they had received several complaints but did not notify potential victims promptly. The reporters’ source for that statement appears to be an anonymous source in law enforcement. NYU officials deny that they were aware of the scam until after one of the employees was arrested last year.
The paper does not indicate what positions the men held at NYUD.
If the number affected was less than 500, as it appears to be from the reporting, we won’t see this one, either, on HHS’s public breach tool. That’s not HHS’s fault, as it’s a function of HITECH, but it sure doesn’t help those of us who would like to analyze how often insider breaches result in ID theft or fraudulent use of patient information.