Government data theft: What are you doing to protect yourself?

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 05:01:41 -0400

Details are still murky about the recent theft of federal government data and how it affects those in the military community.

Thousands of military spouses are federal employees, as well as National Guard and reserve members with civilian jobs in the federal government. Some active-duty troops who previously worked as federal civilian employees also may be affected.

But more information has emerged to indicate that hundreds of thousands of troops are potentially affected. The Office of Personnel Management said some of the hacked systems contain information about background investigations.

If this personal information was compromised, thieves might make fraudulent charges on your accounts, or steal your identity for nefarious purposes, such as opening new credit cards, filing fake tax returns and getting mortgages in your name, all without your knowledge. Identity theft is a lifelong problem, said Gary McAlum, chief security officer for USAA.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/benefits/2015/06/27/protect-federal-government-data-theft/29279247/

Protect yourself after data theft

Take steps to lessen the risk if your personal information has been stolen in the federal government data breach.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 27 at 2015 4:02 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 16:02:23 -0400

https://radaris.com allows you to delete information from search engines.

People search - White pages - Background check - Find people

Find people instantly by name, phone or address. Search people directory and learn about people - background check, phone, address, email, reverse phone lookup, people's reviews and public records.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 27 at 2015 4:04 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 16:04:25 -0400

http://safeshepherd.com helps you monitor and remove information placed on the web about yourself.

Privacy & Identity Protection| Safe Shepherd

Ever wonder how an employer, ex-lover, or creep can find you online? It's because websites and private databases publish your personal information for anyone to find.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Aug 17 at 2015 4:07 PM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 16:07:17 -0400

IRS: Taxpayer breach larger than first reported ...

The IRS acknowledged Monday that a recent computer breach was larger than first reported, saying that hundreds of thousands of additional taxpayers saw their sensitive information compromised.

The tax agency said that thieves might have swiped information on another 220,000 taxpayers as part of a scheme first revealed in May. Another 170,000 attempts to steal taxpayer information were unsuccessful.

In all, the new information means that the breach was at least more than twice as big as originally reported.

Read more at ...

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/251292-irs-taxpayer-breach-larger-than-first-reported

IRS: Taxpayer breach larger than first reported

Thieves went after at least another 390,000 accounts during a scheme first revealed in May.

Response by PO2 Steven Erickson made Aug 18 at 2015 12:44 AM

PO2 Steven Erickson — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 00:44:43 -0400

Well, here's my latest backup data set...

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2015 12:49 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 00:49:54 -0400

Nothing. There isn't anything you really can do besides freeze your credit. They could be using it for any of the plentiful reasons that you can't control. They could be setting up back accounts overseas. The next thing you know the FBI raid you house for you funneling money to ISIS due to a fake account in another country. All you can do is watch you credit report and hope that you don't stand out at the one they pick to use your identity.