Anyone whose Federal Student Loan files were lost on a Government flash drive is asked to register for credit and identity protection.
The lost database contains the names, dates of birth, social insurance numbers and addresses of over 500,000 people.
That’s enough information for someone else to take out loans, apply for credit cards or open bank accounts using that person’s identity.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has arranged to have all those credit reports flagged by Equifax Canada.
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This means creditors will be alerted the personal information may be compromised and lenders will take extra steps to verify the person’s identity before granting credit.
HRSDC is covering the full cost of this protection and the flag will stay on each credit file for up to 6 years.
Anyone affected must give their consent to share the information with Equifax and call Human Resources Canada at 1-866-885-1866.
Besides credit and ID protection, the Government is also monitoring each person’s Social Insurance Number record.
They will be notified if anyone tries to change their SIN information or apply for a card.
So far, the government says the information in the missing files has not been accessed or used for fraudulent purposes.
CLICK HERE If you haven’t received a letter from HRSDC, or want to learn more about the incident and how to protect your ID.
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