Did anyone else get this letter from the Veteran's Administration?

[N.Bailey]

Dear Veteran,
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently learned that an employee took home electronic data from the VA, which he was not authorized to do and was in violation of established policies. The employees home was burglarized and this data was stolen. The data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. As a result of this incident, information identifiable with you was potentially exposed to others. It is important to note that the affected data did not include any of the VA's electronic health records or any financial information.

yada, yada, yada.....continuing for an additional 5 paragraphs.

I can't believe that employees had the ability to get all this information and leave the premises of their jobs with it. I bet this person's house was burglarized! I bet it was a paid set-up. Now, they have all our social securities numbers. Imagine what they'll be able to do with that! Of course they could care less about health records. Was that an attempt to make everyone feel better?

 

[JennyMominRI]

I got it and so did roomie who is on active duty

 

[Shugardrawers]

Dh got it today but he's been out of the navy for around 20 years now so he doubts he's affected but you never know

 

[Cinderella2004]

My husband got it.

 

[christygobar]

My active duty brother got one as well today.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

Just picked dh's up in the mail today. After all those years of building credit and paying our bills on time could be down the toilet because someone elses actions.

 

[LoraJ]

Thre is something odd about this. I recently got a letter from my bank or one of my credit card companies saying their computers were stollen. And I know someone else who got one about a different company. Are these letters for real?

 

[lsyorke]

This has been all over the news for the last week. Yes, it's real. What amazes me is that all this information was available on ONE laptop... that's atrocious!

 

[PlutoPony]

This has been all over the news in the DC area. As I remember it, an employee of the VA administration took home a laptop containing all this info. There were a series of break-ins in the employee's neighborhood and the laptop with this info was stolen, along with some other items. Because several homes were broken into, it doesn't appear that the laptop or info was targeted and in fact it's "doubtful" that the thieves know what they have (or didn't know until this made the news). Taking home this info is against LOTS of agency regulations (duh). Also, some reports note that the VA has been taken to task repeatedly for their systems approach (no database with all this info should be transportable, it should reside on a secure computer, etc.) and the info security procedures used by their employees (or at least this is the gist of it from what I understand). There's a lot of outrage in Congress but nothing concrete yet in what they're going to do for those whose info is stolen altho I haven't been keeping track of this lately. Have heard the possibility of free regular credit checks for a year and stuff like that. I'd recommend you contact your congress people and demand that they get involved as this is very politically sensitive and probably the best way to get something done is thru that channel. Good luck to you all

 

[Jeanny]

This has been all over the news up here too for the last week... Guess the person who took their laptop home, (which is a common practice from the reports)...... is probably not working for the VA anymore.

From the news reports I heard, the thieves erase the harddrive and then sell the computer... they had no idea what was on the computer. Still makes you feel really safe huh??

 

[lyeag]

Dh got one. He's on active duty. Just one more thing to worry about.....

 

[ToriLammy]

Thre is something odd about this. I recently got a letter from my bank or one of my credit card companies saying their computers were stollen. And I know someone else who got one about a different company. Are these letters for real?

There have been a quite a few reports in the news about list being stolen from various companies - I can't recall all the names but most recent was hotels.com so they are for real.

 

[Cindy B]

My DH was out for over 20 years as well and he got one as well.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

DH got the letter this week. I think this story broke in mid/late May and was just "Veterans" at that point. This past week they came out with active duty, reservist, and National Guard being possibly affected as well.

 

[TDC Nala]

These letters are very much for real.

There are several ongoing cases of computers being stolen from company or agency employees that contain personal information of clients or customers. Besides the veterans, there is a story about information leaking about customers of hotels.com, employees of a bank, students and faculty of a major university, you name it.

The only time I was affected by something like this (so far) was years ago when an employee of the credit union I used back then apparently sold or gave my SS number to someone who used it to open credit card accounts. They didn't use my name, just the number.

The VA problem appears to be the result of residential burglary. There's a heavy black market in laptop computers in this area. The employee, it's been reported, no longer works for the VA and there has not been any reports that he's part of some sort of inside job.

There is nothing to do for it but to monitor your accounts and your credit.

 

[munchkin bunchkin]

My Father got one- I'd like to know why such personal info was even allowed to leave the office!

 

[ericamanda01]

DH and I are both worried that we are going to get that letter. Thankfully we havn't yet. But I have been watching the mail like a hawk.

 

[alexandmaddie]

DH got his letter yesterday.

 

[TDC Nala]

The reports are that this laptop contained info on up to 26.5 million veterans and active duty personnel, so a lot of folks will be receiving these letters.

 

[Belle1962]

You can contact all 3 credit bureaus and put a consumer statement in them indicating that no new credit be opened without contacting you at YOUR personal phone number. You may also want to contact your current creditors and place a security / password on your accounts.