Fraud Conference Spawns Fraud

In addition to concerns about the VA data loss (previous items), some service members could be troubled by another theft. Hackers stole personal data from a Tricare Management Activity server containing information on more than 14,000 individuals, including service members, last month, said Defense Department officials. They discovered the theft April 5 when the server indicated suspicious activity. The data had been collected from participants of a Tricare Healthcare Fraud Conference August 2001 in San Diego. The data included names, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and other information, said an official. DoD has notified affected individuals by letter, and advises those who are suspicious of identity theft to call the Defense Criminal Investigative Service at (703) 604-8410. They also can request a fraud alert for their records from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. (Each company passes its fraud alerts to the others.)