The associated press has reported that GE Money, part of General Electric Capital Corp. has mailed letters to 650,000 customers informing them of a Data Breach. GE Money processes payments for over 100 retailers including J.C. Penney. GE Money was informed in October of the missing backup tape from Iron Mountain Inc, a data storage company, and spent two months reconstructing the missing information. Personal information as well as Credit Card and Social Insurance Numbers were included on the tape. GE Money estimates about 150,000 customers had both SSN’s and credit card information compromised. Consumers should be aware that the mailings are being sent by GE Money and may appear to be a pre-approved credit offer since most people have their credit card thru the retailer and may not know that GE Money processes the payments. GE Money has not yet stated retailers were affected though it is known that J.C. Penney was one of them. Identity Theft Labs advises all consumers affected by this breach to ensure they have an identity theft protection plan in place and to insist that they receive a new credit card number from the retailer. Consumers who are informed that their Social Security Number was also exposed should place fraud alerts immediately, consider identity insurance and continue to monitor their credit.
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