Janese Heavin reports: Rex Cone is always concerned about identity theft. So he was especially worried when he received a tax form from the University of Missouri last week that allowed his Social Security number to be displayed through the envelope’s window. “With all of the public service announcements saying to look out for your…
Category: Breach Incidents
MN: Forgers got data from OSHA fine checks
Steve Alexander reports: A potentially large check-fraud operation has been broken up by Minnesota investigators, exposing a ring that allegedly stole account information from checks that businesses submitted to the state Department of Labor and Industry to pay fines. So far, no one has been charged in the case, but a state clerical employee who…
Proposed VISA/Heartland Data Breach Settlement May Pay Banks and Credit Unions Pennies on the Dollar – plaintiffs
According to Interim Co-Lead Counsel in the Class Action Lawsuit in Houston Federal Court: Banks and credit unions that issued VISA payment cards compromised by the Heartland Payment Systems data breach, the largest data breach in history, should carefully review the proposed settlement between Heartland and VISA. The proposed settlement has many weaknesses: (1) it…
Mortgage Broker Who Dumped Consumer Records Settles FTC Charges
A mortgage broker who discarded consumers’ personal financial records in a publicly- accessible dumpster paid a $35,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. According to an FTC complaint filed in December 2008, the defendant improperly disposed of about 40 boxes of sensitive consumer records collected by companies he had owned, including tax returns,…
(update) Swiss to exclude stolen data from tax cooperation
Switzerland will not cooperate with foreign authorities on tax cases where client data has been stolen from banks, its Finance Department said on Wednesday, following a recent spat with France. “No administrative assistance can be provided in the case of violation of public policy or the principle of good faith,” the department said in a…
Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients’ data
David Lazarus writes: West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open. She routinely tells banks and other financial-service providers that they can’t share her information with other…