HCA Identity Theft Impacts Over 7 States
"Toto, it sure isn't Kansas, anymore".
Not when identity thieves stole not
1, not 2, not 3, not even 5, but 10
computers from HCA's regional office
in Wichita, Kansas.
As a result, thousands of employees and
doctors with patients across 8 states
including Kansas are now potential
identity theft victims.
All total it is suspected the number of
impacted individuals of this latest case
of identity theft to be as many as
"..18,000 patient records are
vulnerable".
The type of sensitive personal information
which has been exposed, but highly sought
by this identity theft includes:
- Names
- Social Security Numbers (ssn)
Even more alarming than the large amount
of computers stolen in a single incident
from a locked building, is HCA did not
disclose when it happened
Identity thieves, typically moving quickly
to exploit the stolen data by committing
credit fraud through unauthorized purchases,
may already have a sizeable head start
against the innocent victims who will need
to scramble to place a freeze or minimally
a fraud alert on their credit and banking
accounts.
But, to HCA's credit, they have made provisions
with Trans Union to provide a year's worth of
free credit monitoring.
So, our tip for today is to contact TransUnion
and HCA immediately if you were -or- someone
you know was ever a patient of during the
timeframe of 1996 - 2006 in the following
states:
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Washington
Also, if you were one of the 7,000 employees or
doctors affiliated with HCA's Wesley Medical
Center servicing the following states call HCA
on their special, toll free hotline for further
assistance:
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Texas
- Louisiana
1-800-354-1036.
Finally, given the length of time and difficulty of
HCA to contact all of the potential identity theft
victims dating back 10 years ago, please
forward this notice to any friends or family
members you care about that should be
aware of this threat to their financial future.
posted by agent99 @ 12:02 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Thanks, Agent 99 for this update.
I'm worried for my mother who may
have been part of the impacted group.
When will these companies stop losing
our precious data?
When will someone make them take the
protection of our information more
seriously?
What else can I do to defend myself
and family members from identity theft?
We ask to same questions and the simple reality is that we/you are really on your own.
There is effectively no watch dog that can stand up to the fierce lobbying effort which thwarts truly effective new legislation (at a national level) or even stringent enforcement of current statutes.
Our best recommendation, for now, to your question is to seek your own protection by adopting rigorous monitoring and removal practices advocated on this web site.
Post a Comment
<< Home