IDAHO COMPUTER LAPTOP CONTAINING CUSTOMER DATA STOLEN FROM FINANCIAL INSTITUTION Business - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho
Boise laptop theft a risk to customers

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Ken Dey

The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 05-05-2004
About 200 customers of Nationwide Mortgage in Boise may be at risk for identity theft.

Personal information about those customers, including Social Security numbers, was included in a laptop computer stolen from the business in late April.

The laptop belonged to Kimberly Knowlton, who manages the Boise office at 6945 W. Emerald. Knowlton said a window in her office was broken and the laptop was taken off her desk.

Knowlton said the information saved on her laptop included everything her customers had included in their credit applications.

After the theft, Knowlton said she notified all her clients and advised them to contact credit bureaus and put a fraud alert on their name and Social Security number.

Once a fraud alert is placed on a person's credit report, creditors have to contact the individual to verify your identity before opening any new accounts or making any changes to existing accounts.

Knowlton said all the affected customers have been notified and the personal information of the company's other customers remains secure.

Knowlton said the police believe the theft was a random act and it's unlikely that the the thief who took the laptop could ever access the information because it's in a password-protected file.

"We don't think anything will happen," Knowlton said. "But we still wanted to make every effort to protect my clients' identity from theft."