The Federal Trade Commission warned American service persons to be on guard against online scams in the wake of a recent data breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs in which personal information on up to 26.5 million veterans discharged since 1975 may have been exposed.
The FTC is advising veterans and their families to keep watch on credit accounts, bank account information, Social Security numbers, Internet passwords and other sensitive personal information. The warning specifically mentions the dangers of phishing scams, in which criminals use e-mail messages to lure recipients to a real-looking but bogus Web site, where their information is then harvested.
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson also said in a statement Sunday that personal data on up to 50,000 active duty personnel was among the information contained on a laptop stolen from the home of a VA data analyst on May 3. Nicholson said the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of up to 20,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel were
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