TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: More ID Thievery in Ohio; This Time 859,800 Names Stolen

More ID Thievery in Ohio; This Time 859,800 Names Stolen

Matt Leingang, Associated Press (ap@telecom-digest.org)
Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:00:51 -0500

Ohio: Stolen device contains 859,800 IDs
By MATT LEINGANG, Associated Press Writer

A stolen computer storage device contained more than twice the number
of taxpayers' identifications than had been previously reported,
Gov. Ted Strickland said Wednesday, but he emphasized there is still
no indication the data have been compromised.

The names and Social Security numbers of 561,126 people who had not
cashed state income refund checks were on the device, as well as
14,874 people who did business with the state, according to an ongoing
review of the information it held. That brings the total number of
taxpayers affected to 859,800, Strickland said.

The device was stolen June 10 from an intern's unlocked car.
Strickland said no ID theft cases linked to the stolen device have
been reported, and that extracting data from it would require a high
degree of knowledge and specialized equipment.

In addition to the refund check recipients, others whose information
was on the device include state employees, welfare recipients and
lottery winners who have yet to cash their tickets.

Strickland noted that the estimate of affected people may include
duplicates because some people may belong to more than one of the
groups whose information was on the device.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

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