The Texas Department of Public Safety got hit by a Chinese organized crime ring that has stolen over 3,000 Texans identity! Steve McCraw, who is Chief of the Texas DPS said the group was able to access data of Asians living in Texas on the dark web. They then took that information, and requested new licenses/renewals through Texas.gov, the official website of Texas. DPS also says the group “used ideology-based security questions to verify someone’s identity. Questions like a mother’s maiden name or a previous street address, are among the personal data easily available on the dark web,” according to WFAA.
Yesterday, the Texas House subcommittee on appropriations, who is responsible for the agency’s budget, held a hearing and confirmed they would begin notifying victims through letters this week. However, state Rep. Mary González, a Democrat from the El Paso area who chairs the subcommittee expressed the DPS has already waited too late to notify the public as this fraud was detected late in 2022. “It could be my driver’s license and right now someone could be going around as Mary González for two months and nobody’s been notified,” González asked.
The thought of having your identity stolen can be very scary. Here are some tips to get started to protecting yourself and other from identity theft.
- Change the passwords, pin numbers, and log in information for all of your potentially affected accounts, including your email accounts, and any accounts that use the same password, pin, or log in information.
- Contact your police department, report the crime and obtain a police report.
- Go to the webpage of the Federal Trade Commission, report the ID theft and create an identity theft recovery plan: IdentityTheft.gov
Read More about what to do if you are a victim of Identity Theft by clicking the text below.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR IDENTITY IS STOLEN
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