Identities of 16,000 Pulte Homes customers compromised

Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008 | 7:53 a.m.

Pulte Homes

Computer tapes holding private customer information including names, addresses, driver's license numbers and financial account numbers were stolen from a Pulte Homes office in Las Vegas last month, and the developer is cautioning home buyers to take precautions to protect their identity.

In a letter dated Dec. 19, Pulte Homes Las Vegas Division told 16,000 customers of the Nov. 13 theft of a box containing computer backup tapes.

"At this time, it is not known whether the box was stolen with the knowledge of its contents, or the intent, know-how and ability to extract and exploit the information stored in these backup tapes," the letter said.

So far, there is no indication that any of the information has been used for identity theft, Pulte spokeswoman Jacque Petroulakis said Wednesday. Information on both home buyers and employees was on the tapes, she said.

The theft was reported to Metro Police, and the company is cooperating with the investigation, Petroulakis said.

Pulte Homes Inc., of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., along with its Del Webb/Sun City subsidiary, is one of the largest homebuilders in Las Vegas and the nation.

The theft was noticed shortly after it occurred, Petroulakis said, though she added police advised the company not to discuss details.

It took a month for Pulte's information systems team to identify the customers who were potentially affected, she said.

"We proactively informed anyone who can be potentially affected," she said. "We definitely pride ourselves in having a safe environment for our customers."

Pulte advised customers in the letter to take steps to protect themselves from identity theft and is providing its customers a free year of a credit monitoring service. Among the precautions the letter suggested were closing credit card and other financial accounts and getting new PINs and passwords.

It also recommends placing a fraud alert on customers' credit files to force creditors to contact the customer before a new account is opened.

Customers have until March 31 to sign up for a free year of Experian's Triple Advantage Premium credit monitoring service at Pulte's expense, the letter said. The service monitors credit reports of Experian and the other major credit monitoring services, Equifax and TransUnion. It also sends e-mail alerts when changes are noted, provides a free credit bureau report and credit score and offers assistance for those who become a victim of fraud or identity theft.

Petroulakis did not know how much that would cost the company.

"I know it's a significant investment on the part of the company," she said. "It's a small investment to ensure our home buyers feel we are creating a safe environment for them."

Comments
Print
E-mail
Share
- Facebook
- Fark
- Digg
- Reddit
- Stumble
Tweet

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

By acrosby85254

Dec. 26, 2008

10:53 a.m.

Flag

Come on... no big deal. Out of the 16,000 homes with information compromised only 3000 owners need worry,... all the rest are foreclosed.
By Melinira

Dec. 26, 2008

10:23 p.m.

Flag

Unfortunately, I am one of those homebuyers, I got their letter on Dec. 24th. On December 23rd, I had a fraudulent forty dollar charge out of my personal checking account for an adult website subscription. Oh, but "Pulte has received no indication whatsoever that the data has been used for fraud or identity theft purposes." Maybe that's because they don't bother to return anyone's phone calls when they do report a problem. It was bad enough that very soon (in April 2008) after we purchased our home (through Pulte Mortgage) we were victims of identity theft (along with some of our neighbors, I might add). Pulte never bothered to call us back regarding that either. I have to say Metro was not any better. After filing a report and giving them plenty of information regarding where we suspected the first identity theft came from, we called to check on the status of our case. They never even bothered to call us back, just sent a form letter with the "Case is closed" box checked off. No wonder identity theft is so rampant!!!!!
By bob_cirelli

Dec. 30, 2008

5:57 a.m.

Flag

We need to get with our politicians to enact legislation to hold those who lose personal data responsible. I trust the company to keep my information safe. If you don't you become responsible for any and all expenses incurred, and the costs for a 5 year service like "Lifelock" who places the fraud alerts.

Click here

Calendar »

11 Sat
12 Sun
13 Mon
14 Tue
15 Wed

UNLV men's basketball vs. San Diego State

The Thomas & Mack Center | 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Mötley Crüe

The Joint
<em>Weekly</em> Fling

Ghostbar | 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Eclectic Trio

Winchester Cultural Center | 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Earl Turner

Suncoast Showroom