Expert's View

Unless you’ve been in suspended animation, you know about the malicious cyber intrusion that resulted in the theft of OPM’s background investigative records. The persons affected not only included those individuals for whom background investigations were conducted, but also those listed on a background investigation form by a spouse or co-habitant.

If you are one of those whose Social Security number or other personal information showed up when OPM trolled through the breached records, you should have been notified by now. I know that I was.

The letter OPM has sent a letter to everyone they determined was included in the intrusion goes on to say, “While we are not aware of any misuse of your information, we are providing a comprehensive suite of identity theft protection and monitoring services. We are offering you, and any of your dependent children who were under the age of 18 as of July 1, 2015, credit monitoring, identity monitoring, identity theft insurance and identity restoration services for the next three years through ID Experts, a company that specializes in identity theft protection. The identity theft insurance and identity restoration service coverage has already begun. You have access to these services at any time during the next three years if your identity is compromised.”

To take advantage of the additional credit and monitoring services, affected individuals must enroll with ID Experts using a PIN code they have provided at the top of the letter. If you are one of them, you can enroll by going to https://www.opm.gov/cybersecurity. Or you can do that by phone at 1-800-750-3004.

OPM’s letter closes with a good piece of advice: “Please note that OPM and ID Experts will not contact you to confirm any personal information. If you are contacted by anyone asking for your personal information in relation to this incident, do not provide it.”