Vivian Lee reports: The New York City Police Department has arrested 18 people, mostly natives of Nigeria, who were allegedly in the business of stealing identities and stole at least $5 million. They allegedly affected more than 200 soldiers, including many of whom were unaware of what was happening, since they were serving overseas. Some…
Category: U.S.
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Interior loses CD with personal data for 7,500 federal employees
Alice Lipowicz reports: A compact disc that contains personally identifiable information for about 7,500 federal employees has been reported lost by the Interior Department’s shared services center. The incident occurred on or about May 26, when a procurement specialist at Interior’s National Business Center in Denver reported that the CD could not be located. The…
AT&T hit by another data breach
AT&T customers logging into their accounts to pre-order the Apple iPhone 4 reported that they were given access to the account information of other customers. Despite entering their own usernames and passwords, the AT&T system would take them to another user’s account, according to gadget blog Gizmodo, which broke the news. Some users said when…
OH: Treasurer’s site exposes taxpayers’ information to hackers
Barbara Carmen reports: Franklin County property owners paying taxes online before Monday’s deadline might have innocently allowed thieves trolling cyberspace to snag checking-account or credit-card numbers. Computer experts installed safeguards in 2001 when the county adopted a second Web address, one thought to be more memorable. But many people were familiar with the old address,…
NJ: Documents Containing Personal Info from City Hall Found in Public Dumpster
Phaedra Laird reports: Authorities in Middle Township are investigating how documents from Municipal Hall containing personal information like social security numbers, landed in a public dumpster. The information, which was handed over to officials, could’ve easily landed in the wrong hands. “Oh, I got some more social security numbers.” When Carla Carpenter came to the…
OH: Disclosure law doesn’t cover misplaced documents
Josh Sweigart reports: If a government misplaces a pile of documents containing confidential information in a Dumpster, they don’t have to tell anyone. If they lose a password protected laptop computer, state law requires public disclosure within 45 days. That is why Butler County wasn’t required to tell the 10,600 people potentially affected by a…