Tulsa Area Vets Concerned About Stolen Personal Information

Tulsa area veterans voice their concerns after hearing their personal information may be in the hands of criminals.<br/><br/>The US Secretary of Veterans Affairs announced Monday electronic data from an

Tuesday, May 23rd 2006, 10:38 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa area veterans voice their concerns after hearing their personal information may be in the hands of criminals.

The US Secretary of Veterans Affairs announced Monday electronic data from an employee's computer was stolen. It contained sensitive and personal information for more than 26-million veterans.

News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren talked to some veterans about what this may mean for them.

Any veteran that has been discharged from the military since 1975 could be affected. The VA says they will be sending out informational letters to those veterans. But to many vets, that letter can't come soon enough. Larry Prescott: "We're concerned. We're very concerned about it."

When two Sapulpa veterans heard their personal information may be in the hands of criminals, they began fearing the worst. Bill Laffter: "That is really a lot of valuable information that someone along the line there's going to be a scam set up somewhere to take these veterans."

The Department of Veterans Affairs released an official statement Monday. In it they confirm important data was stolen from one of their computers. It included the names, social security numbers and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some of their spouses.

Veterans blame the employee who took the sensitive information home, when they knew they shouldn't have. Bill Laffter: "that should not have ever happened to begin with, not with all the thievery going on today."

But the statement also highlights the possibility that the thieves may not know what they possess or how to make use of it. That doesn't sit well with a Tulsa credit counselor, Maggie Hunton. She deals with identity theft every day and says if they didnâ€™t know what they had, they do now. â€œAnd there is a good price for that information out there. So I was very afraid."

Hunton suggests the same thing the VA does. Veterans should keep track of their accounts and get on-line credit checks regularly. But that brings up another problem. Bill Laffter: "Are you a computer savvy person? No. I don't own a computer. You couldn't give me one."

Many of the vets affected are older and don't know about the Internet. For them, this is an issue that they feel is beyond their reach. Larry Prescott: "We could go back in to check to see if your identity's been taken time and time again. But why should we have to do this?"

The News on 6 suggests veterans call 1-800-FED-INFO for more information or visit www.va.gov.