Anthem Insureds Beware!

If you are an Anthem health insurance company customer, be aware that Anthem’s database of customer records was breached last week. 80 million customers may have had their name, birthdate, social security number, address, e-mail address, employment information, and even wage amounts stolen. This is the largest health care data breach in US history. Anthem will be contacting you in writing via US Mail if you are a victim.

Do NOT respond to any email, text, or telephone inquiries regarding the Anthem breach.

The crime of identity theft is the fastest growing white collar crime in the United States. Someone is an identity thefy victim every 3 seconds - nearly 29,000 victims each day. Think about it.

Preliminary reports indicate that no bank account or credit card information has been compromised. In addition, personal health information was not compromised (evidently it was not of any economic value to them or else they would have taken it!)

If you do not monitor your credit on an annual basis, this event should be your wake-up call. Free credit report applications are available at:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/manualRequestForm.action

Federal law allows every US citizen the ability to secure all three of your credit reports for FREE on an annual basis from EACH of the three national credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union). You should secure all three of your credit reports and scrutinize them for any unauthorized activity. All three credit reporting bureaus are different and as result, all three usually have different credit activity. They are NOT the same.    

If you need assistance with minimizing your risk of identity theft or if you need assistance navigating through your credit report and eventual discovery that you are an identity theft victim, feel free to contact Frank Suponcic, CPA, CFE, CFF at (440) 449-6800.

You are cordially invited to attend a free Skoda Minotti “Identity Theft” luncheon seminar presented by Frank Suponcic on Thursday February 26, 2015 at 11:30am at the Holiday Inn on Beta Drive in Mayfield Village. For more information and to register, please visit our website at www.skodaminotti.com and click on the “Events tab” and then select the “Identity Theft” seminar tab.