Fwd: [ISN] Personal data on hundreds of Americans faxed to Manitoba company

[blitz <blitz () strikenet kicks-ass net>]

> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060205.wdata0205/BNStory/National/home
>
> STEVE LAMBERT
> Canadian Press
> 05/02/06
>
> Lockport, Manitoba - Confidential information on hundreds of United
> States citizens, including social security numbers, health information
> and bank account numbers, is being sent mistakenly by fax to a small
> Manitoba company.
>
> A 60-centimetre-high stack of data, which also includes people's
> addresses and salaries, already sits in the offices of North Regent
> Rx, a herbal remedy distribution company that operates out of a house
> in Lockport, 15 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
>
> "I know how much these people make, I know what their social security
> number is, I know where they live," North Regent Rx spokesman Jody
> Baxmeyer told The Canadian Press.
>
> "Almost everything a person needs for identity theft is actually faxed
> to us on a daily basis."
>
> Far from using the information for any illicit purposes, Ms. Baxmeyer
> says his company has been trying to stop the faxes from coming in, but
> has been unable to reach an agreement with Prudential Financial, the
> U.S.-based company that is the intended recipient.
>
> The problem started as soon as North Regent Rx began operating 15
> months ago. The company's toll-free fax number is almost identical to
> the number used by Prudential's insurance division, which receives
> faxes from doctors' offices about medical benefits given to patients
> with Prudential insurance.
>
> Employees at many doctors' offices have dialled the wrong number,
> sending the information to North Regent Rx.
>
> The pile in Ms. Baxmeyer's office reveals data about people in many
> states - a Maryland woman with thyroid trouble, a Massachusetts man
> suffering from depression, and Kelly McDonough, 43, an Ohio woman who
> has lost her sight because of diabetes.
>
> "That bothers me," McDonough said from her home in Columbus.
>
> "I do not appreciate the fact that my social security number is in the
> hands of someone I don't know. I know that there can be identity theft
> with as little information as a social security number."
>
> McDonough said the mixup has affected her financially, because she
> initially didn't get reimbursed for the claim that was mistakenly
> faxed to North Regent Rx. After waiting for a few weeks, she assumed
> Prudential might have lost the information and had her doctor's office
> resend the fax, which reached the right destination on the second try.
>
> Prudential says it's trying to address the situation.
>
> "As soon as we learned that disability forms were being misdirected
> due to dialer error, Prudential Financial offered to work with North
> Regent Rx to resolve the matter," the company said in a written
> statement.
>
> "We have asked the six medical providers that we are aware of that
> have misdialled to be more careful when dialing."
>
> Last August, Prudential vice-president Patrick O'Toole wrote to Ms.
> Baxmeyer to suggest that North Regent Rx send Prudential the faxes
> they have been receiving.
>
> Ms. Baxmeyer says North Regent has forwarded some faxes to Prudential,
> and has often faxed messages to the clinics to tell them they have
> misdialled.
>
> But he said it's a time-consuming task for a small company. And the
> ongoing problem has tied up the fax line, he said, preventing North
> Regent customers from sending in their orders.
>
> "The (solution) from our point of view is pretty simple — buy our
> toll-free number," Ms. Baxmeyer said.
>
> "It would take care of the problem right there."
>
> Ms. Baxmeyer said North Regent Rx has approached Prudential about
> selling the fax number, but the insurance firm has not yet agreed.
>
> North Regent Rx would want to be compensated for the cost of changing
> its toll-free number on advertising and invoices, as well as for fees
> charged by the telephone company, he said.
>
> Prudential's written statement says the company is "eager to continue
> to work with North Regent Rx to resolve the issue."
>
> This is not the first time personal data has been sent over the
> Canada-U.S. border to the wrong recipient.
>
> In November of 2004, The Globe and Mail and CTV reported that between
> 2001 and 2004, confidential information about hundreds of Canadian
> Imperial Bank of Commerce customers was faxed to a scrapyard in West
> Virginia.
>
> The scrapyard's owner, Wade Peer, said the volume of faxes prevented
> him from communicating with his customers and forced him to close one
> of his businesses.

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