So did anyone else get this letter in the mail today?

[carrrnuttt]

Didn't feel like typing it out or explaining it, so I just scanned it:



I bet the VA was one employee short last May...

[Broke_as_****]

Yep.

Not worried about it.

[twospirits]

Me too, I got it last week, Not worried about it either.

TS out

[BNaylor]

I got mine last week along with ones for my two sons in the service.

The VA should at least pay for a free credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus. Better safe than sorry.

[fredjacksonsan]

My Dad got one...he's not worried but put a fraud alert on his SS# with the credit bureas.

[03cavPA]

I got the letter. I also went to the website for updates. It seems that the employee who took the laptop home has been placed on "leave" and the VA is taking the steps necessary to terminate him.

They also say his division supervisor resigned over this mess. Numerous links to the FBI and other agencies for tips and reward. The reward is up to $50K, so I'd say they are taking it seriously, or at least spinning it that way.

It's clear to me those folks didn't take their responsibility to safeguard our information seriously enough. Of course, I'm also not so naive to believe that someone couldn't get my information some other way if they want it badly enough.

What are the odds that an employee took home a laptop containing the sensitive information of almost the entire VA system, and it got "stolen"? Why in the world did he need to take it home in the first place? Why was he even allowed to take it home? How lame can that be? This story is a little smelly, if you ask me.

[BNaylor]

Here is some good news. The stolen Laptop with our data has been recovered. See link below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13613727/

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by bnaylor

Here is some good news. The stolen Laptop with our data has been recovered. See link below:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13613727/

Maybe it's just me, but the whole situation in the article just smacks of theatricality.

I mean, the 'discovery' was a 'surprise' in a damned "House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing intended to examine the government's treatment of sensitive data".

Just feels a teeny-bit contrived, you think?

[C2Z06]

I got one and so did my dad. Already pulled my credit report and I'm good. There's a serious of laptop thefts in that area, they refort the drives and wipe the data clean and then sell it on the black market. Chances are, our information was erased before the theives realized what they had. The media, as stupid as they are, plastered this information of our missing ID etc all over the place, increasing the likelyhood of our idendities being stolen. I'm more pissed about that than anything else. Morons are more concerned with making a quick buck than to keep a story quiet for peoples protection.