Dozens of Irving Independent School District (Texas) employees have become identity theft victims after a benefits report containing 3,400 employees’ names and Social Security numbers was casually discarded as trash.
So far more than 60 current and former district employees have come forward to say they’re now identity theft victims and the district’s sloppy security is at fault.
Cynthia Wills taught disabled students at the Union Bower Center for five years. In a single week last fall more than $25,000 was racked up on credit cards in her name. Among the purchases was a $4,000 diamond ring from Zales—the kind of thing most school teachers only dream of, but can’t afford on a teacher’s salary.
Another teacher, Dawn Bizzell, has been with the district since 1996. She said she’s frustrated that district administrators didn’t send out any notification until January 26, though they were aware of it months before.
“I have spent my own money to deal with the consequences of this theft,” Bizzell said. “I have lost sleep and trust in strangers, and most of all, in this district.”
Sharon Denise Seeley was arrested at a local Sears store January 16. She was carrying with her the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, driver’s license numbers, addresses and financial account numbers of 12 of the identity theft victims.
Billy Bullitt was arrested since then on other unrelated charges, but was found with a notebook filled with names and other information about identity theft victims. He hasn’t yet been charged with the Irving case.
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Tags: Billy Bullitt, Data breach, Irving Independent School District, LifeLock promotion code, Sharon Denise Seeley
Low pay, no job security, classrooms crowded with miscreant children–now this! Teachers deserve better.
We can’t trust any organization–gov or private–to treat our info responsibly. I didn’t want to get ID theft protection for a long time, but this story was the last straw! I thought LifeLock was more expensive, but got it for $9/month.