SAN ANTONIO
— Telephone scammers might be targeting a scarcely 3.5 million Texans who had their Social Security numbers and other critical personal information inadvertently unprotected to a public, a state profession general’s bureau warned Tuesday.
Investigators contend during slightest one state worker got a call during home seeking to endorse a Social Security number. Attorney General Greg Abbott pronounced in a matter a tourist claimed to paint one of a 3 state agencies whose employees and retirees had their information unprotected yet that nothing of a influenced agencies are indeed creation such calls.
“We wish this is an removed incident, that this was merely a fluke formed on someone seeking for information,” pronounced Jerry Strickland, a orator for a profession general’s office. But he combined that authorities were endangered adequate to emanate an warning about it.
The FBI and Abbott’s bureau are questioning after personal information was left, in some cases, for longer than a year on a Texas comptroller’s bureau server that was permitted to a public. Comptroller Susan Combs pronounced a unprotected information was blocked from open entrance and being changed to a secure plcae after her bureau detected a problem Mar 31. But those influenced didn’t learn of a problem until her proclamation final week.
She pronounced subsequently that 4 people from her office, including a conduct of Innovation and Technology, and a conduct of Information Security, had been discharged — even yet officials have no denote that a information was misused.
“I deeply bewail that personal information and open trust have been compromised,” Combs pronounced in a matter final week.
The personal information was unprotected after a comptroller’s bureau attempted to lapse unclaimed money and other resources to state employees and asked a Teacher Retirement System, or TRS; a Employee Retirement System, or ERS; and a Texas Workforce Commission for electronic information about their members and retirees. Addresses and Social Security numbers were provided, and infrequently even motorist permit numbers and birthdates.
The TRS information was eliminated in Jan 2010 and had annals of 1.2 million preparation employees and retirees. The Texas Workforce Commission information eliminated final Apr had information about 2 million people in their system, while a ERS information was supposing in May 2010 and had information on approximately 281,000 state employees and retirees. All of those annals remained on a comptroller’s bureau FTP server permitted to a open until a finish of Mar of this year.
Abbott’s matter pronounced a Health and Human Services Commission worker reported receiving a call during home from someone who identified himself as “Mike with ERS.” The tourist wanted to endorse a final 4 digits of a employee’s Social Security number, yet when a worker refused to hold them, he pronounced “Good fitness to you,” and hung up.
“Affected state employees and retirees — as good as stream and late teachers or university employees – should be warning that ERS, TRS and a Texas Workforce Commission are not creation these write calls,” a matter said. “State employees and all Texans who accept these kinds of fake phone calls should not yield any information to a caller: JUST HANG UP!”
The profession general’s bureau has declined to criticism on either any of a leaked information has been misused, citing the ongoing investigation.
The comptroller’s bureau began mailing letters notifying those influenced final week, and has determined a 24-hour hotline victims can call for assistance. It has also organised for victims to accept a 70 percent bonus on one year of credit monitoring.
Article source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7528555.html