|
|
|
|
|
Blood donors’ data stolen along with laptop
Personal information, including the Social Security numbers of more than a quarter-million Minnesota, Wisconsin and at least 46 from Proctor, who donated blood to Memorial Blood Centers, is in the hands of a thief.
The organization revealed in letters to Proctorites and others, that a laptop containing the names and addresses of 268,000 donors was stolen Nov. 28 as Center employees set up a blood drive in downtown Minneapolis. Forty-six people who gave blood during the Proctor Lions blood drive on Aug. 27 received letters Monday informing them of the incident.
The computer was stolen in downtown Minneapolis during early morning preparations for a blood drive. The theft was captured on building security cameras and reported to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The theft of the Blood Center’s laptop is the latest in what has become a string of crimes in which clients’ personal information was stolen from an institution, most commonly retailers or financial institutions. Often the thieves seem more interested in the hardware than the information on it, but identity theft has been traced to the crimes as well.
According to Donald C. Berglund, Memorial employees who were setting up for the blood drive never saw the person who took the briefcase containing the laptop but realized right away that it had been stolen. “The incident occurred at 6:43 a.m. Nov. 28,” Berglund said. Memorial waited a week to send out warning letters to donors to allow police time to conduct an investigation.
“We want to let you know about an unfortunate situation,” the letter begins. “We believe that the possibility that donor information on the stolen laptop could be used inappropriately is unlikely. Nonetheless, it is always advisable to review your financial records, bank statements, credit card statements and credit reports carefully and report suspicious transactions promptly.”
The data includes people who have donated since the Center opened in 1948.
Starting this week, Memorial will no longer ask for Social Security numbers.
|