The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County said in a news release Monday that it was victimized by a medical records breach affecting some clients of its health centers.
RELATED: Tips on digital privacy
The Health Department says the IRS and FBI contacted the agency in February and gave them a list of more than 1,000 people who had information stolen as part of the breach.
Federal law enforcement officials informed the department they had obtained a list of names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, Medicaid numbers, phone numbers, and medical record numbers of the affected individuals identified as Palm Beach County Health Department clients.
The Department of Health said notices have been mailed to all clients whose names were on the list.
Victims were sent information on how to review their credit history and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
However, the department said they are advising everyone who has been a client in one of the health centers to review their credit history for any fraudulent or suspicious activities they have not authorized.
"We're asking them to take a look at their credit history," said Health Department spokesman Tim O'Connor. "See if there's anything suspicious going on. They might have had a false tax return filed against them, they might have had a credit card pulled out on their name, anything like that."
A free report can be obtained at www.annualcreditreport.com.
The Health Department does not know who is responsible for the hack. The FBI is investigating.
Individuals who received a letter or have been a medical client and have questions on this incident can call 1-855-438-2778, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Related Link: http://palmbeach.floridahealth.gov/index.html
