June 3, 2010
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Attorney General Urges Victims of AvMed Health Plan Data Breach to Closely Monitor Financial Accounts
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today encouraged AvMed Health Plan members to monitor their credit statements to ensure their personal information is not compromised as a result of a data breach. AvMed is one of the health plans available to state workers.
Last December, two laptops containing over 1.2 million members’ records were stolen from AvMed's Gainesville headquarters. Included in the stolen data are former and current subscribers’ social security numbers and other personal information. Of the 1.2 million people affected, approximately 1.19 million are Florida residents. AvMed has been cooperating with the Attorney General’s Office and was able to provide details of the security breach, including a forensic assessment indicating the risk of the stolen information being further disseminated is low.
AvMed has issued and will continue to issue breach notices until all affected members are notified. Additionally, AvMed will offer affected consumers free credit monitoring for two years. If consumers believe at any time they are victims of identity theft, they should report this to law enforcement and request that the national credit bureaus place a fraud alert on their credit reports. Consumers should also notify banks and creditors involved of questionable charges or accounts, keep records of all telephone calls and follow up in writing with credit bureaus, banks and creditors.
The Attorney General reminded all customers that if anyone calls them requesting personal information related to the breach, the call is fraudulent and should be reported to the Attorney General’s Citizens Services Hotline at 1-866-9-No SCAM (1-866-966-7226). Additional information about protecting yourself from identity theft is available online at http://www.myfloridalegal.com/identitytheft.