Veterans warned of threat to IDs

Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 | 11:40 a.m.

Military members and veterans covered by TriWest Healthcare Alliance are being warned by the company to take precautions against identity theft in the wake of a Dec. 14 break-in at its Phoenix headquarters.

Thieves burglarized the government contractor's office and stole computer hard drives containing Social Security numbers, addresses and other records of military members, their families and retirees, the company said. An Associated Press report today said as many as 500,000 names were stolen.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance is a Phoenix-based management service organization that is contracted with the Department of Defense for the managed care support and administration of the TRICARE program in the Central Region.

The 16-state TRICARE Central Region includes Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and parts of Texas.

It was not known as of early today whether names or records of Nevada military personnel were taken. The company says it is still assessing the situation.

"We were notified of the theft earlier this week by TriWest," Nellis Air Force Base spokesman Maj. Vic Hines said. "We are working hand-in-hand with them to make sure that people potentially affected are notified."

Hines said it is not known how many Nevada military personnel, if any, had records that were stolen. He said the base has more than 7,000 military members who are covered by TRICARE.

"The recent theft of computer equipment and files from one of our facilities is a matter of grave concern to everyone in our company and throughout the Military Healthcare System," TriWest President & CEO David J. McIntyre, Jr. said in a prepared statement.

"We are working around the clock, in cooperation with the military's healthcare leadership, to organize and staff a system to inform our beneficiaries and help them take the proper precautions to safeguard against any potential fraudulent activity or misuse of their stolen information."

Several attempts to reach the company this morning were not successful.

However the company's website said beneficiaries with computer access can send an e-mail to computertheft@triwest.com to receive information regarding the incident and measures to consider taking to protect against the possible compromise of their personal information.

Beneficiaries who have questions after reviewing the e-mail response or those who do not have e-mail can speak with a TriWest customer service specialist by calling (888) 339-9378.

"All of our normal services were operational shortly after the discovery of the theft and ... this theft is not impacting our ability to provide uninterrupted access to the medical benefits," McIntyre said in a prepared statement.

The case is being investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, TriWest said.