ID Theft Alert: Press Release
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Press Release
HONOLULU – The Attorney General of Hawai‘i is strongly encouraging over 40,000 individuals who are at risk for identity theft, including 22,000 private sector employees and 21,500 members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association ("HGEA") and the United Public Workers union ("UPW"), to take protective measures. At a minimum, individuals are advised to obtain free credit reports and to monitor their Social Security Statements and personal accounts for unusual activity.
The measure follows the recent notification by federal law enforcement officials of the theft of insurance company records that list the names and social security numbers of persons who enrolled in certain health and group life insurance plans in 1999. The records were produced by the Voluntary Employees Benefit Association of Hawaii in a civil lawsuit that the State brought against HGEA, UPW, and others, and they were copied at the request of the Attorney General for litigation purposes by a professional copying service in Honolulu.
Federal officials informed us in January 2006 that unauthorized copies of some of the records were made by a person or persons unknown, apparently while the records were at the professional copying service. They were later found by the Honolulu Police Department on a computer used by an individual being investigated for drug offenses. The incident has not been disclosed before now because that could have impaired the federal investigation.
Private sector employees whose names have been found among the stolen records are being contacted directly by the Attorney General. In addition, members of UPW and HGEA who were enrolled in the following union health and group life insurance plans in the months indicated may be at risk for identity theft and are being contacted directly by the Attorney General:
UPW Dental HDS September 1999 Dental HDS October 1999 Dental HDS November 1999 Medical/Drug HMSA July 1999 Medical/Drug HMSA September 1999 Medical/Drug HMSA October 1999 Medical/Drug HMSA November 1999 Medical/Drug Kaiser B September 1999
Note: The names and social security numbers of the spouse and dependent children of UPW members who were enrolled in the above plans were included in the records that were copied, and those individuals are also at risk of identity theft.HGEA HMSA Premier (Medical/Drug) HMSA July 1999 HMSA Premier (Dental) HDS July 1999 HMSA Premier (Vision) VSP July 1999 HMSA Royal (Medical/Drug)
HMSA July 1999 HMSA Royal (Dental) HDS July 1999 HMSA Royal (Chiropractic) CPH July 1999 HMSA Royal (Medical) RSN July 1999 Kapiolani Health Hawaii (Dental)
HDS July 1999 Kapiolani Health Hawaii (Medical/Drug) Kapiolani July 1999 Group Life RSN July 1999 Group Life RSN December 1999 Specialty Group Term Life RSN July 1999 Specialty Group Term Life RSN December 1999 CHAMP (Medical) RSN December 1999 Note: The spouse and dependent children of HGEA members were not included in the stolen lists. Those individuals are thus not at risk.
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HDS – Hawaii Dental Service
HMSA – Hawaii Medical Service Association
Kaiser – Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
VSP – Vision Service Plan
CPH – Chiro Plan Hawaii, Inc.
RSN – Royal State National Insurance Company, Ltd.
Kapiolani – Kapiolani Health Hawaii
“Identity theft is a serious crime and a growing national problem. Records containing social security numbers and other personal information can be used by thieves to obtain credit cards, to open fraudulent bank accounts, to mortgage real property, and to purchase automobiles. If debts incurred in those transactions are not paid, the credit of those whose identity has been stolen could be impaired. In some cases, it might take years for individuals to clear their records and restore their credit. We are taking this issue very seriously and strongly advise those affected, at a minimum, to obtain and review their credit reports, which are free under federal law,” said Mark Bennett, Attorney General.
Information about how to obtain free credit reports, links to additional information about identity theft, and other safety measures are available throughout this website.