Once it’s out there it can be sold on the black market………………
14 Valley School District Employees’ Identities Possibly at Risk
Reported by Angelo Vargas, Reporter
WESLACO – Several Rio Grande Valley school districts are on alert after employee names and Social Security numbers were found to be at risk.
The information was found on the Texas Association of School Board’s website.
The TASB is notifying employees from 14 different Valley school districts. Districts in Region One affected to date in varying degrees are the following:
- Edcouch-Elsa ISD
- La Joya ISD
- Laredo ISD
- Los Fresnos CISD
- Mission CISD
- Monte Alto ISD
- Progreso ISD
- Rio Grande City CISD
- Lyford CISD
- McAllen ISD
- San Perlita ISD
- South Texas ISD
- United ISD
- Weslaco ISD
The TASB is asking employees to check their credit.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke to a Weslaco Independent School District employee. The woman asked not to be identified.
“I mean, it was very difficult for me to find this email. I had no idea it was even there. So, I just think that people should be aware that this is going on,” she said
The Weslaco ISD employee said her identity was stolen once before. She doesn’t want this to happen to her fellow employees.
“I know. I have had my identity stolen before. So, to see that, that our identities have been compromised is alarming,” she told CHANNEL 5 NEWS.
The Weslaco employee said she just found out about the leaked information. She said the district also sent her a PDF with new information.
“I really wish they had found this sooner because from the time they found it, which was May 22 to the time I received the first email, which was June 20th, that’s a month. I mean, that’s almost a month,” the Weslaco ISD employee said.
Texas Association of School Boards spokesperson Barbara Williams sent us the following statement, which reads in part:
“TASB was recently notified that personal information was visible on the internet through one of its website applications. This application is used by TASB to report wages to the Texas Workforce Commission for an unemployment compensations group program we administer for participating district employers.”
Williams said14 valley school districts are impacted by this leak. She explained the agency immediately took off the application from their website.
The statement continues to say they are providing a hotline number for potential victims and a one-year membership to a credit monitoring and identity fraud system.
“I don’t think it’s enough for just a year, especially since information like that once it’s out there it can be sold on the black market. And I know that’s a far stretch but I mean it happens,” the victim said.
Williams said they don’t know how long the employees’ information was on the site. They’re currently in the process of notifying employees because of summer schedules.
The agency said they are adding extra security protocols and expanding security training for all TASB employees. They’re also looking into a review of all their electronic resources containing personal information.
Editor’s Note: Popular identity theft product found in some Texas school districts: www.idwatchdog.com/
