Veterans Again At Risk for Identity Theft, This Time NY Vets May Be Most in Jeopardy

NEW YORK, NY – Veterans in the New York area, and perhaps elsewhere,
have begun receiving notifications from the Veterans Administration
about the possibility that they could be victims of identity theft due
to yet another missing VA computer (letter to veterans).
Personal data of veterans – including names, Social Security numbers
and medical diagnoses – may have been compromised when a computer went
missing from the Manhattan VA hospital on September 6.

The VA apparently only just recently sent letters notifying affected
veterans. In its notice, the VA says free credit monitoring for those
affected “should be available within the next month,” and it encourages
the veterans to obtain a free credit report. Earlier this year, the VA
faced scrutiny when laptops went missing in two separate incidents that
put in jeopardy the identities of millions of veterans.

Today,
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) chastised the Department of
Veterans Affairs for its continuing failure to secure personal data and
for waiting more than six weeks to notify New York City veterans.

“This
is not the kind of Halloween trick that our veterans want,” Maloney
said. “The VA seems to be mishandling this situation at every step of
the way – first they lost yet another computer, then they waited almost
two months to tell veterans that their identities might be at risk.
When is the VA finally going to get serious about protecting veterans’
personal data?”

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