Identity Theft Warning from State Department

The U.S. State Department sent a warning to almost 400 individuals, Oct. 30, who had applied for passports regarding the security breach in the Department's records system that may have allowed identity theft. 

Possibly By a State Dept. Employee

Passport applications contain extremely sensitive and personal information such as Social Security numbers. It is possible that the security breach was enabled by an employee of the State Department in Washington, D.C., the area in which all of the passports in question were being processed. Stolen Social Security numbers can be used to open fraudulent credit card accounts, among other scams. 

Passport Applications and Credit Cards

The State Department found out about the risk of identity theft while working with the Washington police, who had arrested a man carrying eight completed passport applications and many credit cards with different names. The names on four of the applications matched those on four of the credit cards. 

The police arrest happened at approximately the same time that the State Department became aware that some of its employees were "snooping around" in the passport application files of celebrities and candidates for political office. 

Increased Security at the State Department

After the arrest, Washington police began an intensive investigation into an identity theft and credit card ring, and the State Department took actions including: 

• Increased its passport records security system 
  
• Reduced the number of employees with access to the records  
  
• Increased the auditing and monitoring of the passport applicants' files  

At least one Department employee has been reassigned and may face disciplinary action. 

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that 383 people have been notified to date, and that most of the individuals contacted have not been targets of identity theft. All of them have been offered free credit monitoring for one year, the bill footed by the State Department. 

(Source: MSNBC) 

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