The Federal Trade Commission said yesterday it has mailed reimbursement claim forms to more than 2,400 consumers who may have been victims of identity theft because of alleged security lapses at data broker ChoicePoint Inc.
In December, the FTC mailed claim forms to 1,400 consumers who were identified with the assistance of law enforcement, with instructions on how to file a claim. In April, an additional 1,500 consumers were identified and contacted.
The FTC created a Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/choicepoint where consumers who do not receive a letter can download a claim form and obtain information about the claims process.
In 2005, Alpharetta, GA-based ChoicePoint, which compiles and sells personal information, announced that it had sold information about many consumers to people who turned out to be identity thieves.
The FTC investigated the ChoicePoint security breach and alleged that, in some cases, these sales resulted in identity theft. The FTC and ChoicePoint reached a settlement requiring the company, among other things, to pay $5 million to be used to reimburse consumers for expenses because of identity theft caused by ChoicePoint’s security breach.
