Alerts

August 24, 2006
The U.S. Department of Education announced that the personally identifying information of any person who logged on to the Federal Direct Student Loan website between 9:16 p.m. on Sunday, August 20 and 10:16 a.m. on Tuesday, August 22 may have been disclosed to others.  The information involved included names, social security numbers, birth dates and addresses.  Individuals who have Direct Student Loans go online to change contact information, make loan payments, check loan histories, etc.

Education Department officials claim that the data breach occurred on a software upgrade.  They also state that they will be contacting all who might be affected by mail and will arrange for free credit monitoring.

If you logged on to the website during the times listed, you may want to consider putting a fraud alert on your credit report.  For more information, see the fact sheet, “Identity Theft, What to Do If It Happens to You.