Healthcare Scam: Identity theft scam targets Berkeley Medical Center

WVU Medicine University Healthcare in the region of West Virginia has confirmed 113 sufferers to date as victims of identity theft scam and is giving 1 year of identity monitoring services to a total of 7,445 patients after a worker at Berkeley Medical Center was discovered to be removing patient information from the premises.

While inquiring other examples of identity theft scam, the FBI and local law enforcement linked the hospital to the scam and notified officials of a potential breach on the day of January 17, 2017, in accordance to a WVU spokesperson.

An internal inquiry then confirmed a link between the worker and people who had their identity stolen. The employee had access to patient data and was writing down information through pad and pencil and taking the data home.

The worker was suspended on January 19, terminated on the day of January 27 and now is being prosecuted. Along with written patient data, other protected health information found in the employee’s possession involved drivers’ licenses, ID cards, insurance cards and Social Security cards. Additional tracking later found the worker also viewed physician orders that consisted of diagnoses and other information.

The hospital sustains to work with law enforcement to notify affected individuals and has contracted with Kroll for the identity theft monitoring services.