When Central Florida truck driver Kerry Branch received a letter from the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, in late December he thought it was a fake.
The letter in part read that the OPM was the victim of a “malicious cyber intrusion…which resulted in the theft of background investigation records” and his records were on the list.
A recent wave of email and phone call impostors claiming to be with the IRS, FBI and Treasury Department had Branch convinced this letter was just another elaborate scheme to get money.
“I thought it was a scam, Branch says, I didn’t think anything of it.”
But before he tossed out that letter he contacted News 6.
WKMG-TV contacted OPM’s communications director Samuel J. Schumach, who confirmed the letter Branch received was authentic.
In an email to News 6 Schumach writes : “Yes. This matches one of the sample letters on our website, www.opm.gov/cybersecurity.”
He stressed “They must match the sample letters verbatim, and direct people to the OPM website. If it directs them anywhere else, it is not from the Office of Personnel Management.”
At first Branch didn’t’ understand why his information would be on a government database.
Then he remembered he needed clearance to transport hazardous materials something he received federal clearance for twice in the last eight years.
“I’m glad I got a hold of you, Branch told me, because who knows what would have happened down the road.”
Glad because Branch and anyone else that received a letter and link to the OPM site is eligible for security protection.
The U.S. government has set aside roughly $130 million to provide security monitoring for more than 21 million men, women and their families for the next three years.
There have been no reports that anyone on the list had their personal information compromised but that data included birthdays and social security numbers and they could be used months or even years from now.
For more information go to: www.opm.gov/cybersecurity