May 24, 2006

Kansas veterans should be vigilant to lower risk of identity theft
Governor warns veterans after federal government loses personal information

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that personal information on more than 26 million veterans was on computer equipment stolen from an employee’s home.

This theft puts these veterans at risk of identity theft, which is why Governor Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs are warning veterans to be vigilant.

“This is one of the biggest losses of personal information on record, and I encourage Kansas veterans to take steps to minimize their risk of falling victim to fraud,” said Sebelius.

Sebelius wrote to the Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday to urge officials there to reach out to veterans potentially affected by this incident.

It is not known if the information has been or will be used inappropriately or illegally, but the possibility of identity theft does exist. Stolen information includes names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of veterans and possibly the information of their spouses. While no financial information or medical records were compromised, it is possible that disability ratings were in the stolen data.

“This potentially affects all living veterans who were discharged after 1975,” said George Webb, executive director of the Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs. “The data loss also may affect any veteran, no matter what period of service or when they were discharged, who has ever filed a claim for VA disability compensation, pension, or education benefits, or who has a VA insurance policy.”

While most remedies to this situation are with the federal government, Kansas will provide its veterans with whatever assistance is possible. State Veteran Service Representatives of the Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs will be available to provide information to veterans. More instructions about this issue will be on their web site at www.kcva.org.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a special website at www.firstgov.gov and a toll-free telephone number for veterans that feature up-to-date news and information. Veterans can check this webpage for further updates or call 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636). Veterans should use this number rather than the number normally used for claims information.

All veterans should be particularly alert to the possibility of fraud. In particular, veterans should be suspicious of any of the following:

• Inquiries from companies they haven’t contacted or done business with
• Purchases or charges on their accounts that they didn’t make
• New accounts they didn’t open or changes to existing accounts they didn’t make
• Bills that don’t arrive as expected
• Unexpected credit cards or account statements
• Denials of credit for no apparent reason
• Calls or letters about purchases they didn’t make

Veterans or anyone else who is suspicious of identity theft should seek a credit report. By law, individuals are entitled to one free credit report each year. Requests may be made from one of the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, TransUnion – at www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.

Direct contact can be made at:

• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
• Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, Texas 75013
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

More information about fighting identity theft can be found at: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, have launched full-scale investigations into this matter.

Of this situation, Sebelius said, “All those involved must be held accountable and steps taken to ensure this does not happen again. Our veterans and their families deserve nothing less.”