1,400 who gave blood seen at risk of ID theft

Boston Globe ^ | May 10, 2003 | AP

[Rocky]

No details about who stole the identities, or how it was done. Is there really enough information on the forms that you fill out to give blood, such that people can take out credit cards in your name?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Officials Probe ID Theft of Blood Donors By JOANN LOVIGLIO, AP [Full Text] PHILADELPHIA - As many as 1,400 people might have had their Social Security numbers and other personal information stolen while they were giving blood last winter, officials said.

The four drives were conducted by the American Red Cross in November and December across southeastern Pennsylvania.

Already, federal investigators have identified 23 of the roughly 1,400 donors as victims of identity theft, officials said Thursday. Their personal information was used to obtain credit and make purchases.

The others have been notified by the Red Cross that their personal information also may have been "compromised" because of a "breach of donor record confidentiality."

Red Cross spokeswoman Susan Snyder Sponar said the nonprofit group has no reason to believe its computer systems were breached but declined to elaborate on how the information could have been acquired.

Sponar said the federal investigators contacted the Red Cross about the link in the cases.

"There were a number of identity theft cases being investigated where the common denominator appeared to be that they all were blood donors," she said.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Meehan declined to comment on the investigation, being conducted by the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service, but said in a statement that identity theft "is the kind of crime that costs people money, time, and even their reputations."

In July 2001, seven people were charged by federal authorities in Illinois with accessing data on more than 2,000 people, many of them donors from a Chicago-based blood bank, then going on a $2 million shopping spree.

Prosecutors said the group opened bank accounts, applied for drivers licenses and credit cards and created counterfeit credit cards to buy airplane tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, computers and cell phones.

The case is pending.[End]

[NYS_Eric]

I'm giving blood myself at a local Red Cross drive in precisely 2 hours, so this is a timely article. Trying to remember what sort of info they ask. Seems like they DO require a social security number as part of their "blind" verification process (they've got a portable PC device where they display your name and SS# on the screen and the technician comes and makes you verify it before giving, if I recall).

I'll know soon enough...

[Centurion2000]

I'm giving blood myself at a local Red Cross drive in precisely 2 hours

Why ?? These are the guys that double crossed all of the donors of charity after 9/11 (took almost a billion dollars of charity and put it into the general funds INSTEAD of putting it to NYC) .... there are plenty of articles on FR to support taht case.

Nothing wrong with giving blood .... but the Red Cross will NEVER see a dime from me or a drop of mine.

[NautiNurse]

The Red Cross is out of control, and has been for years. As my mother would say--they are too big for their britches.

[OldFriend]

I doubt there is any other entity collecting blood in the United States. Unless there is a drive for a specific person at a particular hospital, I believe the Red Cross is alone in the blood collection business.

Without donated blood many lives would be lost. Think again before you decide to NEVER donate blood because you don't like the Red Cross.

[On the Road to Serfdom]

Well, I would stay as far away from the Red Cross as possible. If they are the only ones collecting blood then it is not my fault. Let those that don't know any better donate, and have their identities stolen, get diseases, etc.

The problem is non-profits think they are such do-gooders they could justify in their mind reusing needles to save money because it is for the greater good. Don't try to tell me it never could happen. I doubt the Red Cross workers who stole the ID's in this story worried a lot about the sanitation of the needles.

[Centurion2000]

I doubt there is any other entity collecting blood in the United States.

Actually there are a few of them, and I have donated.

I will NEVER donate to the red cross again.

[sam_paine]

doubt there is any other entity collecting blood in the United States.

That's like saying Jiffy Lube is the only place to get your oil changed!

Call any hospital. Or go to a specialty place like the blood and tissue center in Central Texas.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Our local blood bank provides an alternate number upon request. By law, blood banks require donors to complete a detailed medical form, and "Social Security" is one of the 'blanks' - but only because the system has been in place for years, donor lists organized by SS# (companies used to do that a lot - insurance, credit card, etc.). No one is required to give any non-governmental business/group a SS#.

[MindBender26]

This whole ID theft idea is bogus. Certain paid data bases will give you an ID, address, SSAN, unlisted phone numbers, buying habits, credit cards used, etc. for a very small fee.

[tgslTakoma]

You can call up any local hospital and ask them if the have blood collection capabilities. Many do.

After a Red Cross scandal (I forget which one) approximately 6 years ago, I started donating my blood at Children's Hospital in DC. Red Cross gets no more blood from me.

[OldFriend]

Thanks for the info. I will check our local hospital but I suspect the Red Cross is running their program.

[redbaiter]

Hear, hear. I'm a long-time donor, usually giving at my employer's office in - GAAAH! - downtown Philly. The Red Cross comes in for two days, sets up shop in one of the bigger conference rooms, and we all set up a time to donate. It's a big chunk out of the day, but at least we don't have to leave the office.

Well, no more. For some reason they cut the drive to 1 day. Excuse me? There are 1600 employees in the building, and 300-400 more in the other building 3 blocks away. At a minimum of 1 hour per donor, do you think one day is enough? I don't.

A couple weeks ago when the Red Cross came in I arrived to find - surprise! - a big line, the result of the shorter blood drive. I filled out the paperwork and sat there for 45 minutes. And then one of the people in line ahead of me comes out and says after waiting for an hour, she can't give blood because her iron is too low. I left.

And then it occurred to me: It takes 20 seconds to test someone's iron. Why not do that up front, and save everyone a lot of time? When someone comes to donate just grab them, swab their ear, stick their earlobe, and if their iron is too low send them on their way. Takes 3 minutes, tops.

So, no more donating through the Red Cross. I'm going to find someone who respects my time.

Just one other remark, there is no reason donating blood should take more than 45 minutes. But the Red Cross is not the organisation that will make that happen.

[Think free or die]

Drat! We're in suburban Phila, but I stopped donating to the Red Cross after the 9/11 shenanigans. Their identification system does indeed call for a SS# punched into a hand-held electronic device.

[DBrow]

The RC started demanding SSN probably 15 years ago. I was on their Rare Blood Group Cll List, they'd call me when they needed my type and asked me not to participate in company sponsored drives, so if they had a call for the blood they could get mine.

Suddenly, the SSN line, which I had always left blank, had to be filled in or I could not donate. I did not give my SSN. I heard one employee say, get his drivers lic and we'll get his employer (which they had on file) to give the SSN later.

Last time I donated to RC, and I was way over a two gallon donor, I had stopped collecting the little blood drop pins they give out. I got up and left. I tried once more and they told me, no SSN, no donation.

OK by me, I guess, but I wonder sometimes if there was someone that could have been helped.

[DBrow]

Cll list= Call list, srry.

[quietolong]

Do not give your SSN# out ever! If people would start saying NO! We wouldn’t be having these misuses. Who hear has one of the old cards. Were it says in big letters across it “ NOT TO BE USED FOR ID”

[crazykatz]

Blood Banks of America is Red Cross' major competition and they did NOT waste all that blood that was freely given after 9/11. They actually slowed down collection and required appointments for all donors.

They only collect blood and do not do all the other work that ARC does.

Most major US cities have branches of their offices. They are also non-profit as is the ARC.