12/18/15
From the Council of BetterBusiness Bureaus
TheU.S. government's Office of Personal Management (OPM) has been notifying thoseaffected by a recent cyber security breach that their personal data was compromised.Unfortunately, scammers are also "notifying" consumers. Here's how toidentify a real OPM notification letter and the signs of a scam.
Howto Spot a Real OPM Letter:
Youdon't have to be a U.S. federal employee to receive a notification from OPM.The breach was wide reaching, and there are many ways your personal informationmay have been included. Common ones include:
- Past and present federal employees
- Spouses and other co-habitants listed on federal background investigation applications
- Applicants for a federal job
- Those who worked or volunteered with a federal agency but are not federal employees
RealLetters Contain:
- A 25 digit PIN to register for credit and identity monitoring services.Make sure your PIN is real by entering it atopm.gov/cybersecurity
- Instructions to visit the websiteopm.gov/cybersecurityto get more information and sign up for monitoring.
Signsof a Scam:
Scammerslove to take advantage of large government initiatives.Scamssurrounding the roll out of the Affordable Care Actare a recentexample. Be on the lookout for scammers attempting to cash in on this effort.
- OPM will not contact you for personal information. OPM, nor anyone acting on OPM's behalf, will contact you to confirm personal information. If you are contacted by anyone claiming to represent OPM DO NOT share your information.
- Email is not used in this round of notifications. OPM did email to notify those affected by the breach this past summer. This time, they are sending letters by U.S. Postal Service. An email claiming otherwise is a scam.
- Lost your PIN or didn't receive a letter?If you have not yet received a letter but think you have been impacted, you can contact the verification center at opm.gov/cybersecurityor by phone.
ForMore Information:
Learnmore about the data breach and the U.S. government efforts to notify thoseaffectedon OPM'swebsite.
Checkout BBB's Top 10 Scams of 2015: bbb.org/top10scams
Tofind out more about other scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper(bbb.org/scam).
Toreport a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker).
