UTAH INTERNAL COMPONENTS STOLEN FROM COMPUTERS AT ACCOUNTING FIRM The Salt Lake Tribune -- Private information stolen from Utah computersAccountant David Saunders was shocked by what he found when he arrived at his office in Providence, near Logan, early this week.
Burglars had cut the power and telephone lines into the building housing the offices of Saunders & Wangsgard. Once inside, they carefully opened the company's computers and stripped out the internal processors and hard drives.
"They took some cash, too, but it looks like what they were really after was the computers," Saunders said.
The missing computer hard drives contain private financial information -- bank account numbers, routing codes and Social Security information -- for approximately 2,000 of Saunders & Wangsgard's clients -- a large percentage of whom had filed their tax returns electronically the past several years.
Now, Saunders fears many of his clients may fall victim to identity theft.
"We've sent out letters to all of our clients warning them about what has happened and urging them to contact the credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- so they can have a fraud watch put into place," Saunders said.
At the suggestion of law enforcement, Saunders & Wangsgard also urges its clients to consider changing their bank account numbers
The Federal Trade Commission three weeks ago reported that 42 percent of the fraud complaints it received last year were related to identity theft. It noted 1,326 Utahns fell victim to identity theft last year.

The Cache County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the case and checking on potential leads.
Lt. Von Williamson, a Sheriff's Office spokesman, said burglars ordinarily steal the entire computer. "That is what makes this case unique," he said. "Whoever broke in took the time to open up the computers so they could just take the hard drives."
Williamson suggested businesses that have critical information stored on their office computers should buy alarm systems with battery backups. If burglars cut power lines before breaking in, the alarm still sounds and law enforcement personnel can still be contacted.
"Except even that wouldn't have done us any good," Saunders said. "Whoever broke in cut right through an inch and a half of power and telephone lines all at once."