Business
Thief does smash-and-grab for IDs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 7, 2004
The Social Security numbers of about 95,000 insurance customers were obtained by a thief who smashed a car window and grabbed a computer hard drive that had been left unattended by the CEO of a technology company hired by a managed care network.
The Alameda Alliance for Health, a California nonprofit managed care plan serving about 100,000 members in the San Francisco area, has notified subscribers about the March 31 theft of their personal information.
Larry Saltzman, chief executive of Insurance Benefit Spot Check, was driving a backup hard drive containing insurance coverage data to a bank, and the hard drive was stolen en route while he was out of the car visiting his accountant's office, Saltzman told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sacramento-based Spot Check acts as an intermediary between doctors' offices and insurers, allowing physicians to more easily check if patients have medical coverage.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/06/07/bibf0607.htm.
