ID Theft Alert
Incident Details
In January 2006, the Attorney General was informed by the United States Secret Service that names and social security numbers of more than 40,000 individuals had been found on a computer that was seized by the Honolulu Police Department pursuant to a search warrant. The computer was used by an individual being investigated for a drug offense.
The names and social security numbers were included among records that had been disclosed in a civil lawsuit that the State of Hawaii brought against the Hawaii Government Employees Association (“HGEA”), the United Public Workers (“UPW”), and others, involving amounts the State had paid for medical, dental, and life insurance benefits for public employees. During the course of the litigation, the Voluntary Employees’ Benefit Association of Hawaii provided the State with various printed records that included the names and social security numbers of both government employees and others. Electronic copies of those records were made for litigation purposes by a professional copy service in Honolulu, and the printed records were returned.
Unauthorized copies of some of the records were made by a person or persons presently unknown, apparently while the records were at the professional copy service. Names and social security numbers were copied as well as the birthdates of UPW members, their spouses and dependents. An investigation into the matter is being conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The Attorney General is notifying individuals by letter who are at risk for identity theft. Those individuals have been identified for one of the following reasons: (1) their names and social security numbers have been found among the records that were copied; or (2) the individual was enrolled between July and December of 1999 in the health and group life insurance plans sponsored by HGEA or UPW that are listed in the Press Release that appears on this website. The spouse and dependent children of members of UPW who were covered by those plans are also at risk because their personal information was included in the records that were copied.
Persons who are notified by the Attorney General may not be victimized, but the information that has been stolen could be used by identity thieves, and that could compromise the finances of the victim.
Checking for Identity Theft
- Obtain and carefully review your credit reports. Details on how to request your credit reports can be found on this website at: How to get your Credit Reports.
- Check your bank and credit card statements regularly. Look for unusual or suspicious activities. If you find any, contact your financial institution immediately and verify the activity. If it is a fraudulent financial transaction, you may be a victim of identity theft.
- Check your social security statement periodically to see whether earnings of someone else have been credited to your account. See Frequently Asked Questions on this website.
If there are any irregularities in any of your information, you should immediately check with the financial institution involved. If the activity is confirmed to be fraudulent, see If You Are a Victim of Identity Theft for specific information on what to do next.