Red Cross records breached

Lana Cook and her husband received mail Monday that she described as "unnerving" and "unsettling."

The American Red Cross sent letters to the Cooks and 8,000 other regular blood donors in Missouri and Illinois this week warning them of an information security breach involving a former employee who had used Social Security numbers to make charges on the accounts of at least four people.

And that St. Louis-based employee -- since fired, arrested and charged with identity theft -- had also had access to the personal information of the 8,000 blood donors the Red Cross sent letters to.

"I felt taken advantage of," said Cook of Cape Girardeau. "I felt violated in some way. I don't want the blood to be violated in any way. But I don't want to be violated either."

It was an isolated incident, said Jim Williams, manager of communications for the Missouri-Illinois Blood Services Region. The employee, who Williams would not identify, was employed as a "tele-recruiter," someone who calls past and potential donors to ask them to give blood. He was fired this month after only working at the Red Cross for four months, Williams said.

Several of those letters came to donors in Southeast Missouri, though Williams said he didn't know exactly how many.

The case is being investigated by the Ladue Police Department and the Joint Task Force on Identity Theft, a regional group that includes postal inspectors and other federal and local representatives.

The letter, dated March 17, said the employee had passed all background checks, including criminal, prior to employment. The letter said the Red Cross has no evidence the suspect misused other Social Security numbers but felt it should alert everyone the suspect had called as a precaution.

Local authorities, including the police and Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle, said they had not received local reports of identity theft relating to the American Red Cross incident.

The Red Cross, in the letter, advises the recipients to file a report to police if their credit card bills show any unauthorized activity. It also advises that letter recipients may want to put a fraud alert on their credit reports.

Williams said Social Security numbers are voluntarily given by donors, though it is asked on questionnaires when people donate blood.

The Red Cross is seeking to upgrade its software for better security and to increase its managerial presence in areas where telemarketers work.

"We want to make sure this doesn't happen again," Williams said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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