Key Data on Millions of Veterans Stolen!

ABC News ^ | 5/22/06

[areafiftyone]

May 22, 2006 — Personal data on about 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst who improperly took the material home, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday.

The data included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the veterans, Nicholson said, but "there is no indication at this time" that the data had been used for identify theft.

Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee or the location of the burglary.

[redhead]

"Your average person robbing a house wouldn't want this data would they?"

It was probably on a disk inside a stolen computer, or some such. I can't even imagine a burglar standing there, sorting through disks...

[Rakkasan1]

good job, Brownie!

[Thebaddog]

Deutsch was the CIA guy who took secret data home and kept it on a computer that his kid also used. I betcha this is a cute way to let the stuff be hacked by the bad guys.

[Velveeta]

Your average person robbing a house wouldn't want this data would they?

Nope.

[tracer]

Today's phrase is "class action lawsuit."

Can you say it?

I knew you could....

[malia]

"----- This person should face criminal charges for taking the data home."

I would like to know why he took it home.

[tracer]

"Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee>"

Nicholson will learn a new saying of the wise Confucius: "Pre-trial Discovery is Bitch".......

[tracer]

"Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee>"

Nicholson will learn a new saying of the wise Confucius: "Pre-trial Discovery is Bitch".......

[tracer]

For the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks,,,,,

[kenth]

but "there is no indication at this time" that the data had been used for identify theft.

That is, until ABC ran this story and the thieves realized what valuable information they have.

[maplenut]

More data for democrat voter registration files.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Because, the payout for the information on that hardrive was more than his salary.

[atomicpossum]

Stolen, my behind. This person sold the info.

[Gritty]

Anybody know how I can find out if my info was in there???

With 26.5 million, chances are you have been compromised.

What's there to investigate? This guy should be shot!

[Kozak]

Right. And each veteran gets a Mickey D's coupon and the scum bag shysters take home billions. Please leave me out of the class.

[ibheath]

"----- This person should face criminal charges for taking the data home." I would like to know why he took it home.

I don't care why he took it home. The article clearly states it was improper for him to take it home. That means either ill intent or gross stupidity/negligence/incompetence. There is no good explaination for taking it home.

Because of this person's actions, I have to put a fraud alert on my credit bureaus and monitor them for the rest of my life.

These names can be sold to illegals who want fake ID. Am I alarmist? A little. I worked as a mortgage broker for 4 years, and those people whose ID's had been stolen lost years of their lives trying to repair the damage to their names and finances.

[Gator101]

Argh! Why are people taking this information home! Same thing happened at the school I earned my Bachelor degree at. Few months back some administrator took a laptop home with thousands of SSN numbers on it and it got stolen. The schools letter to me - "watch out for identity theft". Not even an apology.

[areafiftyone]

That guy probably sold it to China. They should check his bank accounts.

[dogbyte12]

Lovely. I am assuming my records were in the mix.

[PeteB570]

You can say that again Texas.

ibheath, at 26.5 million vets I'll bet your's was in there also.

Identity theft? I'll bet it's coming.