PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) — It has happened again. Actually, for Randy Blackford, it happened a third time. He opened a letter from the Veteran’s Administration and found another man’s most personal information tucked inside.
“It’s hard to believe,” Blackford said. “It makes you wonder what they’re doing in Washington.”
This time, it’s information for a man named Stephen, who lives in Kentucky. There’s an address, social security number and a letter about the status of the man’s medical claim. It is not the kind stuff you want in a stranger’s hands. It’s everything needed to steal someone’s identity.
“And they wonder why so many people can get somebody else’s identity,” Blackford said. “I got everything right there. If I was a crook, I’d have it made.
Blackford first turned to Better Call Behnken in 2015, when he contacted me with the same problem.
That was right after a woman stepped forward when she received private medical test results that belonged another veteran.
Every time, the veterans recall the VA responding the same way, by telling them to just throw the paperwork away.
Better Call Behnken contacted the VA and received this statement:
“I assure you that at the Department of Veterans Affairs we take our obligation to honor and serve America’s Veterans and their families very seriously, and we put the utmost priority on protecting their privacy.
If an incident ever occurs involving VA information, we make contact with any individual involved, coordinate the return of the information, report the incident to our network security operations center, and offer free credit monitoring to a Veteran or beneficiary whose data is considered at risk.
Credit monitoring ensures that all of the individual’s accounts are stable and that no unusual or unauthorized activity is taking place. We understand the importance of ensuring privacy, work diligently to protect it, and regret any situation where an individual’s privacy is violated.”If you have a problem that you need help solving, contact “Better Call Behnken” at 1 (855) 234-6536.
