Dear Friends,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope everyone has a safe and fun night. Please remember to wear reflective clothing if you are going to be on the streets and sidewalks after dark.
On Friday, October 26, 2012 Governor Nikki Haley, SC Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Chief Mark Keel and SC Department of Revenue (DOR) Director Jim Etter announced that there was a cyber-attack at the Department of Revenue. This attack exposed approximately 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit card and debit card numbers. To watch the video of the State House press conference click here.
This update is to help explain what happened, how this might affect you and what you need to do to protect your identity. I will also keep you updated as I receive more information.
Even though I will not have any opposition in November, I still need your financial support. To have a strong voice in Columbia, I have to communicate with my constituents. And that is you! My website, newsletters, mailers and Facebook are the communication tools that I use. It takes extra time and campaign funds to maintain them.
If you would like to contribute, please mail a check to Hixon For House, P.O. 7927, North Augusta, SC 29861 or contribute online by going HERE.
I hope that you find this update helpful and informative:
Legislative Update – October 31, 2012
Cyber Attack at the SC Department of Revenue
What happened?
The S.C. Department of Revenue announced that approximately 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers were exposed in a cyber attack. Of the credit cards, most were protected by strong encryption deemed sufficient under the demanding credit card industry standards, to protect both the data and cardholders. Approximately 16,000 were unencrypted. To view the full report and timeline click here.
On Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Governor Haley, Chief Keel and Director Jim Etter held a State House press conference on the breach and outlined additional consumer safety resolutions, including extended fraud resolution and coverage for dependents who are minors, available to SC tax payers. Video of today's press conference is available here.
What to do now?
Anyone who has filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 is urged to visit Protectmyid.com/scdor or call 1-866-578-5422 to determine if your information is affected. If you follow the link above you will be on the Experian website and should be asked to enter your Activiation Code. In that box enter "SCDOR123" and then click the red button labeled "Click to Redeem Your Activation Code". This service immediately enrolls you in one year of identity protection service provided by Experian.
As of Tuesday morning, October 30, the Experian call center set up to assist SC tax payers had received approximately 533,000 calls and approximately 287,000 signups for Experian's ProtectMyID membership.
What is Experian's ProtectMyID™?
Experian's ProtectMyID™ Alert is designed to detect, protect and resolve potential identity theft, and includes daily monitoring of all three credit bureaus. The alerts and daily monitoring services are provided for one year, and consumers will continue to have access to fraud resolution agents and services beyond the first year. Tax payers who sign up for protection will also be notified–by email or letter– about how to sign up for a "Family Secure Plan" if they claim minors as dependents.
What else should I do?
In addition to the Experian monitoring service, you are also urged to protect your identity and financial information by:
- Regularly reviewing your credit reports
- Placing fraud alerts with the three credit bureaus
- Placing a security freeze on credit information with the three credit bureaus
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Are young adults that previously filed in SC covered?
If a tax return was filed from 1998 until present and a person's social security number was listed on the return as a filer or a dependent they can sign up for the protection. Individuals currently 18 and older must enroll themselves. Individuals currently 17 and younger must be added on the family plan by their parent or legal guardian. Laws do not allow them to consent to this agreement on their own. SCDOR will crosscheck social security numbers with all enrollments.
- Why does the SCDOR not just automatically enroll tax payers?
It is against the law to enroll tax payers without their consent.
- Could we not have a portal provided that would allow quicker, more direct and easier access?
Experian has a SC portal/page it is www.protectmyid.com/scdor. The activiation code is SCDOR123 (not case sensitive) to enroll. A way to confirm that you are on the correct page is the picture of the person/model on the page should be a female. Some people are being bounced directly to the Experian home page (the picture on that page is a male) this is a problem on the user's end not Experian's. If you do not have access to the internet you can call 1-866-578-5422. Experian is working to address the wait times.
- How much time should deployed, overseas military expect to wait before they are contacted? Is there any "extra" contact, perhaps specifically assigned to this group, that we can share to get them in touch with the right people without having a phone line wait?
We are in the process of working with the Department of Defense to make the notification enrollment process as easy as possible. Details will be released when they are confirmed.
- Have checking account routing numbers been compromised?
Of the files accessed an individual's entire return was accessed. The social security numbers and bank information were not encrypted. Credit cards were encrypted on returns after 2003. Any unencrypted credit card information would be for cards that have expired.
You can view Live Broadcasts of the South Carolina House of Representatives daily legislative sessions by clicking Here.
Go to the new House Roll Call Votes Page to see how all the representatives have voted on all the important bills.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you in Columbia. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have ideas on issues you want me to share with the rest of the General Assembly, please don't hesitate to contact me at Home – 803-278-0892 or at work 803-279-8855.
Sincerely,
Bill Hixon
