ERAS security breach -- anyone else affected?

[sslurpii]

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I received an e-mail about an ERAS security breach. My name, contact information, soc sec number, MSPE and transcript (which would list a lot of personal information) were placed on a USB drive which was lost. The e-mail stated only a small number were affected, but this is serious so I wanted to ask if anyone else in the SDN community has received this e-mail or if I am one of only a few. If you did not receive the e-mail I am sure you are fine.

 

[synapse lapse]

Our school dean emailed us saying 9 students from our school also had their information contained on that drive (I was not one of them). The USB was pasword protected according to the email we got, but it did not mention if the data was encrypted or not.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I didn't get an email, but wow, I'm sorry you did. I really wish groups would learn to be more responsible with our data. I had a similar thing happen when a state student loan agency lost a laptop full of names, birthdates and ssns, including mine. I hope the info is just lost and not actually in bad hands.

 

[Nitbee]

I received an email from ERAS yesterday saying that an hard drive containing my personal information was lost on jan 13th .

 

[Mental Gymnast]

I received an e-mail about an ERAS security breach. My name, contact information, soc sec number, MSPE and transcript (which would list a lot of personal information) were placed on a USB drive which was lost. The e-mail stated only a small number were affected, but this is serious so I wanted to ask if anyone else in the SDN community has received this e-mail or if I am one of only a few. If you did not receive the e-mail I am sure you are fine.

wonderful...

 

[doc20]

you should sue them and ask for a compensation package equivalent to no less entire 30 year career as a doctor

 

[ResidentMD]

you should sue them and ask for a compensation package equivalent to no less entire 30 year career as a doctor

Trying to put a spin to this thread....what do you do when something like this happens...and your SSN enters someone else's hands? Is there someone you need to notify so that identity theft can be prevented?

 

[maggy75]

I'm one of the people whom they have lost personal information, I am very concerned so this mistake exposes us to the danger of identity theft and they tell us that we're getting protection for 2 years I think is not enough, we need to take any action

 

[PirateHotel]

Also it raises the question of what they were doing with a small number of applicants on a data key / hard drive?

 

[gutonc]

I'm one of the people whom they have lost personal information, I am very concerned so this mistake exposes us to the danger of identity theft and they tell us that we're getting protection for 2 years I think is not enough, we need to take any action

FWIW, I was one of the people who's personal data was lost in a similar VA incident several years ago (stolen laptop in that case). They also provided 2y of credit monitoring for free and after that I've checked my free annual credit report each year. Never had an issue.

The most likely scenario is that it was lost (not stolen) and will never be found, rather than this being some nefarious criminal plot.

 

[gutonc]

Also it raises the question of what they were doing with a small number of applicants on a data key / hard drive?

QA/QC stuff would be my guess.

 

[Nitbee]

Could it be possible that group of people who had applied to same program/specialty had their information lost.I had applied to just pediatrics programs.

I was told by one of my friends that I should seek for a written statement from ERAS instead of an e-mail, to report to the police and Social Security department.can anyone provide me with more information regarding this..

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Could it be possible that group of people who had applied to same program/specialty had their information lost.I had applied to just pediatrics programs.

I was told by one of my friends that I should seek for a written statement from ERAS instead of an e-mail, to report to the police and Social Security department.can anyone provide me with more information regarding this..

I don't know that you would need to report it to the police or the ssa unless someone actually uses the information. What you can do is place a fraud alert on your credit through contacting any of the credit reporting agencies. That way, no one will be able to apply for credit with your name without more serious verification. That's what I did when my information was lost a few years ago. As mentioned above, most likely nothing will happen.

 

[Rabbit Hole]

Taking the stance of "most likely nothing will happen" is something you will regret when you find out that your identity has been used to commit a crime or when you see your credit report full of outstanding purchases you never made. Think about it when you have to apply for a medical license or when a background check is done on you. It takes forever to resolve and it will always be a tarnish on your record.

Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Site

US Department of Justice - Identity Theft and Identity Fraud

US Social Security Administration

 

[notinkansas]

I believe you can put a freeze on your credit report, which would prevent it from being pulled without your knowledge. You'd have to release the freeze in order for it to be released.

I don't understand why the h3!! personal information like this is placed on easily stolen/lost devices such as laptops and drives. It should be illegal to do so.