Oklahoma Officials Warn Veterans To Take Action

Friday, May 26th 2006, 6:12 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State officials in Oklahoma are urging veterans in the state to take steps to protect their finances because of a major security breach at the US Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington DC.

The VA says a computer stolen from the home of a VA employee contains personal data from 26.5-million veterans nationwide.

A spokesman at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs says there are 355,312 vets in the state.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson says as a Vietnam veteran some of the stolen information may be his and he's concerned.

Edmondson and state AARP president Bob Bristow says veterans may want to consider a fraud alert on their credit reports and frequently check those reports for suspicious activity.

Edmondson says a fraud alert allows consumers to get a free report from all three major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.