Error Exposes Federal Retirees' Financial Info

Some federal retirees had their personal information sent to the wrong people, raising concerns about potential identity theft, WJLA in Washington, D.C., reports.

A reporter from the TV station sat down with Aleena Hampton, a Department of Defense retiree, and went over documents — including the Social Security number — of a completely different retiree. Hampton told the reporter she logged into her retirement account and saw information that wasn’t hers, and when she logged in again, a second person’s information (still not hers) came up. She printed it out and called the Office of Personnel Management.

Hampton said she’s now checking her account multiple times a day, worried someone had access to her information and may use it. She’s right to be concerned — an identity thief can do a lot of damage with someone’s name, address, birth date and Social Security number, and even once fraud is detected, it can take a lot of time and money to recover from.

The Office of Personnel Management didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Credit.com via email and Twitter (the phone line has been consistently busy), but a representative sent this statement to WJLA:

“OPM disabled the portal while it investigated the circumstances of the malfunction and will notify affected individuals if personal information is determined to have been compromised.”

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It remains unclear how many people may have been impacted by the so-called malfunction, but federal retirees would be wise to keep an eye on their credit reports and credit scores for signs of identity theft (you can get a free credit report summary every month on Credit.com).

Identity theft is an especially common threat this time of year, when tax forms are flying around in the mail, and thieves are working to file fraudulent tax returns before taxpayers finish their paperwork. Watch your accounts for signs of fraud and file your taxes as soon as you can, to avoid unnecessary delays in receiving any refund for which you may be eligible.