VA is doing many things to prevent identity theft for Veterans, from mandatory training for all employees and contractors in cybersecurity awareness and privacy to eliminating the use of Social Security numbers in its business processes.
Last week, the story of an Airman who was targeted by an online job scammer was shared widely within our community. This story included a false claim that the Veterans Employment CenterTM (VEC) website was breached. I want to make it clear that there was no breach of information on the VEC site. The VEC puts the safety and security of Servicemembers, Veterans, and their families first by storing only general profile information, such as email addresses. The VEC does not store resumes, addresses, phone numbers, dates of separation, or any personally identifiable information (PII). VA reports all suspicious activity, suspected corporate fraud, or phishing activities immediately to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and we immediately referred this case to them once we discovered a Veteran had been targeted by an online job scammer.
VA’s More Than a Number program seeks to educate Veterans and their families about identity theft prevention, providing information on ways to protect personal data and on steps to take if you think that data has become compromised. Read below for some of the tips that can be found on the More than a Number website:
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
We’re here anytime, day or night - 24/7
If you are a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one, connect with our caring, qualified responders for confidential help. Many of them are Veterans themselves.
Get more resources at VeteransCrisisLine.net.
