MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Headquarters Marine Corps officials recently announced that 207,750 enlisted Marines, who served in the Marine Corps between 2001 and 2005, are at risk of identity theft due to the loss of personal information.
The lost information included name, social security number, marital status and enlistment contract information.
A lot of people don’t understand the seriousness of taking the necessary precautions to prevent identity theft or fraudulent charges on their credit report, according to Francis X. Tomaszewski, Marine Corps Community Services financial counselor here.
“I encourage all Marines to visit www.annualcreditreport.com and fill out the information needed to receive their credit report,” said Tomaszewkski. “The federal government passed a law that all credit reporting agencies provide one free credit report per year, per person. So it won’t cost them anything to do it.”
Filing a credit report helps Marines in more ways than one. Once filed, Marines can check for I.D. theft as well as bills that weren’t theirs. So, if they have suspicious charges on their report they can take appropriate action as soon as possible, according to Tomaszewski.
Although the information was lost aboard a military installation, it is still considered to be a very serious risk to all personnel who were affected, according to Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Chilson, information assurance manager here.
There is no evidence the information has been compromised and Naval Postgraduate School officials are currently conducting a detailed investigation to determine the facts surrounding the case, according to Marine Administration message (MarAdmin) 143/06.
“Thumb drives are too vital to be discarded,” said Chilson. “The best we can do is to try and safeguard the information on them. A way we can do this is to educate users on the importance of securing data.”
Marines can refer to MarAdmin 590/05 to learn more information on safeguarding important information on thumb drives.
All Marines affected by the lost information are encouraged to visit the federal trade commission’s web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft for guidance on protective action against identity theft. Additionally, affected Marines may place an Active-Duty Fraud Alert on their credit files for up to 24 months. This will generate a free credit report from all three credit reporting bureaus, according to MarAdmin 143/06.