His house was burglarized and the computer along with its precious data was stolen. The employee was not authorized to remove the computer or the data from the VA office and has since been fired.

Initial reports stated that the information was on veterans discharged since 1975. Further reports revealed that the information on thousands of active-duty personnel were also “potentially included”. Records at risk also include any veteran who left the service before 1975 but had submitted VA claims.

Unfortunately, social security numbers were included in the information that was stolen exposing veterans and their spouses to potential identity theft. The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking all veterans to be extra vigilant and to carefully monitor bank statements, credit card statements, and documentation on any recent financial transactions.

Many veterans, even some discharged before 1975,   have received a letter from R. James Nicholson, the secretary of Veterans Affairs explaining the situation and asking veterans to be especially careful to review all their credit card bills, credit reports, and other financial data. The letter also states that they should "Beware of any phone calls, e-mails and other communications from individuals claiming to be from VA or other official sources, asking for your personal information or verification of it. This is often referred to as information solicitation or 'phishing.' VA, other government agencies and other legitimate organizations will not contact you to ask or confirm your personal information."

Ironically, the letter also stated, “In accordance with current policy, the Internal Revenue Service has agreed to forward this letter because we (the VA) do not have current addresses for all affected individuals. The IRS has not disclosed your address or any other tax information to us.” It’s nice to know that private data is respected between agencies. Now if we could only get each agency to properly protect the data!

If you feel your personal information may have been a part of this unprecedented data theft and you have any questions you can contact the VA at the call center that they have set up in response to the data theft at 1-800-FED INFO (333-4636). This number should also be used to report any suspicious activity.   More information as to the exact extent of the data at risk and recommended action for veterans can also be found at the FirstGov website.

The three agancies where you can check your credit report are:

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN www.experian.com

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289  www.transunion.com

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285  www.equifax.com

The FTC's Identiry Theft Hotline is online at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or by telephone at 1-877-438-4338.