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Public Employee Press
Consultant loses laptop;
retirees fear identity theft The city arranged for more
than 280,000 retirees to have a year of free credit-monitoring after a laptop
with personal information was stolen this summer.
The laptop was taken
Aug. 18 from a consultant for CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc., who was working
for the citys Financial Information Services Agency.
Although CGI
assured FISA that the laptop was password protected, the company acknowledged
a risk that the thief could gain access to personal information stored on the
computer, including Social Security numbers and bank account numbers.
At
a recent retiree meeting, GloriaTomanelli of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan
said the union had received inquiries about the theft but no reports from retirees
who believed their identity may have been compromised because of the theft.
FISA
wrote the affected retirees about the theft on Aug. 31. In the letter, FISA Executive
Director Robert W. Townsend advised retirees to take advantage of the free Equifax
Credit Watch Gold credit monitoring service that CGI is paying for.
The
letter gave retirees Equifaxs phone number and a promotion code for the
service. Anyone who cannot find the code can request it from FISA at 212-857-1777.
The deadline for registering is Nov. 30.
Work requiring this sensitive
information should have been done in-house not contracted out, said DC 37
Retirees Association President Stuart Leibowitz.
Retirees who believe they
are victims of identity theft should call MELS, which will provide help for fraud
victims, at 212-815-1111, said Joan L. Beranbaum, director and chief counsel of
DC 37s Municipal Employees Legal Services.
To obtain free annual
credit reports from the three principal credit reporting companies, as permitted
under federal law, call 877-322-8228. To report suspicion of fraud, call Equifax
at 800-525-6285, Experian at 888-397-3742, and TransUnion at 800-680-7289. | |