May 23, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Petri is asking veterans to keep a close eye on their charge accounts. "As reported previously in the news, a Veterans Affairs (VA) employee inappropriately took data home to work on a project, and the data was stolen in a burglary. It was an incredible blunder," he said.

The data included the names, social security numbers and dates of birth for approximately 26.5 million veterans. It did not include health records or any financial information."

"Unfortunately, the data stolen is enough to make it easy for the burglar and his associates to obtain credit cards under veterans' names," Petri said. "The fact is, everybody is at risk for identity theft which can result in bills for items they never ordered. Everybody should carefully review their charge card bills and report any irregularities immediately. The veterans are especially at risk because the stolen information makes identity theft easier."

Petri said that the FBI and the VA Inspector General's office have launched full-scale investigations into the matter.

"Authorities believe it is unlikely that the thief or thieves targeted the items because of prior knowledge of the data contents," said Petri. "In other words, it's the employee's rule- breaking coupled with incredibly bad luck."

The VA is sending out individual notification letters to veterans, and has established a manned call center that veterans may call to get information about the situation and learn more about consumer identity protections.

Members of the President's Identity Theft Task Force have taken action to protect the affected veterans by working with credit bureaus, and will be coordinating a comprehensive federal response.

Veterans can learn more about this matter by viewing FirstGov.gov and the VA's Web site. The VA's toll-free number for information on identity theft is 1- 800-FED INFO (1-800-333-4636). The call center will operate from 7 am to 8 pm (CDT), Monday-Saturday as long as needed. The call center will be able to handle up to 20,000 calls per hour (260,000 calls per day).