Heartland and Discover Agree to $5 Million Data Breach Settlement
In the latest aftershock to a massive data breach that took place in 2008, card payment processor Heartland Payment Systems yesterday announced a settlement agreement with Discover Financial Services in which Heartland will pay Discover $5 million.
The drama began Jan. 20, 2009 (coincidentally, the day of President Obama’s inauguration), when Heartland announced that malicious software had compromised its data the year before. Visa and MasterCard had alerted the payment processor of suspicious activity on some of its card transactions. Data exposed through the breach included card numbers, expiration dates, and in some cases, the names of customers who used debit or credit cards at Heartland’s network of 250,000 businesses.
In August 2009, the hackers who perpetrated the data breach, American Albert Gonzalez and two Russian accomplices, were indicted in federal district court in New Jersey on charges that they carried out the largest hacking and identity-theft caper in U.S. his
22,000 Delaware Retirees Social Security Numbers Exposed
Around 22,000 Social Security numbers of Delaware state government retirees have been inadvertently posted online by a government contractor.
Aon Consulting included the Social Security numbers, gender and birthdates of about 22,000 Delaware state government retirees in a request for proposals for insurance companies interested in providing vision coverage to employees and retirees. Retirees affected included teachers, state police and the judiciary.
That information was posted on the state’s procurement website, a mistake that went undetected for from August 16th to August 20th. The information was taken down once it was discovered.
Aon is a multinational corporation with offices in more than 120 countries.
Insurers need age and other information on the pool of people to be covered in order to prepare a bid, Aon Consulting spokesman Joe Micucci said Monday. He said that is normally done by using a random series of digits assigned to individuals to shield their identity, not their Social Security numbers.
However, “the information that should have been randomized was not,” Micucci said.
Letters are being sent to affected individuals who will be offered one year of free credit monitoring. The company also will provide the retirees information on the steps needed to place a fraud alert on their files.
Hurricane Earl Evacuators Taking Precautions Against Identity Theft?
While hurricane season has not yet officially kicked off, this has not stopped Hurricane Earl, a category 4 storm that is barreling right towards the North Carolina coast as we write this post. As a result hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect along the Mid-Atlantic coast and as far north as Massachusetts, and evacuations have already started in areas of the East Coast.
While many of the evacuators may have taken steps to protect their valuables, it is uncertain at this time as to what steps they have taken to avoid becoming victims of identity theft — which can happen very easily during a hurricane evacuation.
Laura D’Alisera, a mitigation and recovery planner with the city of Jacksonville Emergency Preparedness Division, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, recently told TMCNet that: “Identity theft is a reality,” said D’Alisera. “Safeguar
17 Million Countrywide Customers Receive Credit Monitoring After Data Breach
A federal judge granted final approval on a settlement between Countrywide Financial Corporation and around 17 million customers on Monday. This was a result of a large data breach that left the large group at a high risk for identity theft.
Bank of America, who now owns Countrywide, will provide free credit monitoring for the 17 million individuals whose financial information was exposed. The group includes anyone who obtained a mortgage and anyone who used Countrywide to service a mortgage prior to July 1, 2008.
Any victims of identity theft also could be reimbursed up to $50,000 for each time their identity is stolen. They would have to prove they lost something of value, weren’t already reimbursed and that the identity theft stemmed from the Countrywide breach.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say Countrywide Financial had all their clients’ financial information including mortgage information, credit card, and Social Security numbers and birth dates.
The lawsuits stem from the arrest of Rene Rebollo Jr., of Pasadena, Calif., a former senior analyst for Countrywide, and Wahid Siddiqi, of Thousand Oaks, Calif. Feder
Scammer Tricks Woman with Bait and Switch
As far back as I can remember I would often be approached in parking lots by someone in a van who was trying to sell me home stereo speakers. The speakers were always from a retailer’s loading dock or from trucks that had extra unaccounted inventory. And today was my lucky day. The ruse was when you got the speakers loaded into your trunk, you were generally getting them in their new box. But the box just had pieces of wood. Anyone thinking they were getting a deal, was just getting firewood. This is classic bait and switch. Be more aware of these scams and protect yourself from them.
A twist on this scam happening all over is with laptops. The Business and Heritage reports “As a woman got out of her vehicle, she was approached by a man who had exited from his car. In his car were a woman in the front seat and a kid in the back. He approached the woman and showed her a laptop. He explained that his girlfriend is a manager at Best Buy and that he had gotten a great deal on some laptops like the one he had. But, no