FLORIDA COMPUTER HARD DRIVE STOLEN FROM HOSPITAL Visitor ID Information Stolen From JMH Computers - cbs4.com:

Mar 20, 2009 10:27 am US/Eastern
Visitor ID Information Stolen From JMH Computers


MIAMI (CBS4) ―

Miami-Dade police are investigating the theft of a computer hard drive stolen from Jackson Memorial Hospital's data center. The hard drive held ID information for individuals who presented a drivers license or other form of identification at security points while visiting the hospital from May 2007 and March 2008, officials said in a statement released on Friday.

The hospital stated that, "No social security numbers or financial information was stored on the missing drive."

The hospital reported the theft to Miami-Dade police on March 4th, and has since taken steps to ensure that a theft like this doesn't happen again. The information taken from visitors is now being monitored by a third party and stored at an offsite location. Also, data collected from visitors will be destroyed after 30 days.

The hospital says it will continue to work with law enforcement in hopes of apprehending the person or persons responsible for the crime.

Those who visited Jackson Memorial Hospital during the time period in question may wish to place a fraud alert on their credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change a persons existing account.

To place a fraud alert, call any one of the three major credit bureaus:

• Equifax 1-800-525-6285
• Experian1-888-397-3742
• Trans Union Corp 1-800-680-7289

As soon as one credit bureau confirms the alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts as well. All three bureaus will send credit reports to the requestor, free of charge.

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