This is the e-mail that was sent Jan. 22, 2010 to all Columbus Public Health employees
regarding the stolen information.
Our department was notified earlier this week that Columbus Police recovered stolen financial
records and papers from Columbus Public Health as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. We are
collaborating closely with our partners at the Division of Police and our city attorney's
office.
Since this is an ongoing investigation, the details we have are limited. We know the stolen records included personal identifying information, so we wanted to notify you immediately so you may choose to protect yourself. Since learning of this, we have reviewed our safety and security procedures to ensure our employees are protected. Unfortunately, even in organizations with strict security, there may always be a level of risk as in this case.
Because we have no knowledge how this information has been utilized, we suggest that you take some preventative measures. Because we believe your name and social security information was available in the documentation stolen and to help safeguard you from misuse of your personal information, we have arranged for you to receive 12 months of identity protection under the Debix Identity Protection Network at no cost to you. Further information on this service will be forthcoming in the next day. Additionally, you may take steps to check your own financial records.
This includes:
1) Checking your financial statements. Monitor your financial accounts and billing statements
regularly, looking closely for charges you did not make.
2) Check your credit reports. The law requires each of the major nationwide consumer reporting agencies provide you with a free copy once every 12 months. You get these through http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, 877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
3) Placing a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. Call any one of the three major credit bureaus to begin. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts.
- Equifax 800-685-1111
- Experian 888-397-3742
- TransUnionCorp 800-916-8800
More details about these and other steps are available at The Federal Trade Commission's Web site at (select "Identity Theft" from the Quick Finder). For a copy of Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft, please go to their Web site.
We will be following up with you in the next few days as more information becomes available. If you have evidence that your personal information was breached and used fraudulently within the last three years please contact the Columbus Division of Police Economic Crime Unit at 614-645-4910. We are deeply saddened by this breach of trust. We are quickly exploring how CPH can further help staff to deal with this situation and will continue to share more information as we receive it. Please contact me at rogerc@columbus.gov if I can be of further assistance.
