(Submitted by Dennis Orpen of Arizona)
This story concerns identity theft or a possibility of identity theft. The reason I am sharing this story with those of you who read this is not because I have some sense of duty or obligation to Mason City, a place I once called home. Far from it. It’s because I still have family and a few friends there and I would hate to see anything happen to them without sharing what I know. And maybe all of you can be more aware and vigilant as well.
A few years ago when I was on my late December vacation from work, I stumbled upon a security breech from the Cerro Gordo county website. I was doing a document search on the website using my name. Nothing of importance came up so I decided to try other names of people I know who still live there. Keep in mind that documents when filed at a courthouse become public record.
When I typed in their names, I clicked on the link which opened up the documents that were for everyone to see, and I found peoples Social Security numbers. Needless to say I was very surprised. These documents were mostly mortgage records. I was able to find the Social Security numbers of at least thirty people total. Some are prominent citizens of Mason City.
I stopped after that because it was just too easy and because of sheer boredom. It was like shooting fish in a barrel……..no challenge. I showed my wife what I found and how I was able to do it. I decided to inform John Skipper of the Globe Gazette of what I found and to see if he was interested in doing a story.
I contacted Mr. Skipper a few days later, told him what I found out. I walked him through the procedure over the phone, step by step. He was amazed as well. He mentioned that he would inform the Globe’s web tech and have that person contact the web tech at the courthouse. I said that I would be in touch again to see what he found out.
Some time passed and I called Mr. Skipper back and he mentioned that the courthouse was aware of this problem and was working on a fix. He appreciated my bringing this problem to his attention and my discretion on keeping silent. Mr. Skipper said that it would be best not to run a story until the issue was resolved and I agreed with him.
This problem has been fixed and no longer can anyone access people’s mortgage records from the Cerro Gordo website. And just to put your minds at ease, as I told Mr. Skipper, I did not have to have a special password, I did not have to “hack” into the website. All I needed was the names of citizens of Cerro Gordo county. Everything was completely legal.
Like myself, I am sure that most of you have friends living in other counties in other states across the USA. It would be a good idea to tell them to check their county websites as well. I checked the Maricopa County website where I now live and there is no such problem.
All I seek to do is to help and inform. Keep a close eye on your credit report and your credit card statements. And if you see anything suspicious, contact your bank or credit card company right away.
Dennis Orpen
Chandler, AZ |
