The VA announced that one of their financial services center’s online applications had been accessed by unauthorized users, who accessed the private data of approximately 46,000 vets. The information was used to fraudulently send funds to the hackers’ bank accounts. The money was supposed to be used to reimburse local medical providers for healthcare provided to veterans around the country. Some of the tactics that the cyber-criminals used involved social engineering. With the access they illegally obtained, they were
able to use patient payment information and social security numbers to convince the victims that they were legitimate representatives of the VA. In some cases, the unauthorized access to the financial application was used to directly alter patient bank information and then directly divert money without any actual communication with the veteran whose account had been breached.
VA Data Breach
In response, the online application in question has been shut down indefinitely while a review of its security measures is conducted. The VA is offering free
credit monitoring to the affected individuals, who have been contacted directly. The next-of-kin of deceased patients were notified as well. For Veterans who are worried that their information might have been included in the cyber-crime, the VA should have already reached out via email, phone, and traditional mail. If you receive one of these notices, but are worried that the correspondence itself might be another scam, the Financial Services Center advises you to contact them in writing, using the following address:
VA FSC Help Desk, Attn:
Customer Engagement Center, .P.O.
Box 149971, Austin, TX 78714-9971.
Or you can send an email to VAFSCVeteransSupport@va.gov
Until Next Time,
**Written by Benjamin Derge, Financial Planner. The information has been obtained from
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