Ex-Worker Charged, Patients Warned about Credit
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Updated: 7:53 AM Jan 21, 2009
Ex-Worker Charged, Patients Warned about Credit
The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is warning people who received flu shots over a three-month period to monitor their credit reports following the arrest of a former employee on a computer fraud charge.
Posted: 4:34 PM Jan 20, 2009
Reporter: Associated Press
Email Address: news@wsaz.com
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UPDATE: Tuesday Evening
By: Kallie Cart, WSAZ
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A step to get protected from the flu virus has left thousands of people in the Kanawha Valley susceptible to fraud.

And now a worker at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department has been arrested for identity theft. The health department is sending out a strong warning and changing the way it does business.

A complaint of identity theft led police to Jameelah Jossiah, a temporary employee brought into the health department to help with the billing. She's accused of using Social Security numbers and other personal information to get credit cards.

"They determined that this person was involved and (had) in her possession a list with 12 or 14 names on it and Social Security numbers on it," said Brenda Isaac with the Kanawha-Charleston Health Board.

Police believe it is limited to those people on the list. To be safe, however, the health department will be sending out a letter to anyone who received a flu shot between October and December 2008. It will tell them how to place a fraud alert on their credit files to protect themselves.

Additionally, the health department is adding some preventative measures to the way it operates, changing the requirements for the billing system which is contracted through the state.

"We've been working with them for a couple of years to develop a system that does not require the collection of Social Security numbers," Isaac said. "They've been telling us they weren't sure that they could do that, but after this happened they've told us that they can."

Isaac said there are background checks done on all of the health department's employees, and Jossiah did not have a criminal record. So far, she has been charged with one count of computer fraud.


ORIGINAL STORY
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is warning people who received flu shots over a three-month period to monitor their credit reports following the arrest of a former employee on a computer fraud charge.

The health department said Tuesday it is sending letters to about 11,000 people who received shots from the department between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. The letters say that personal information, including Social Security numbers, may have been compromised.

The department says information will be included on how patients can place fraud alerts on their credit files.

A Sheriff's Department statement says 24-year-old Jameelah Jossiah of South Charleston has been charged with one count of computer fraud. She was a temporary worker assigned to perform medical billing for flu shots.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Comments

Posted by: janna on Jan 21, 2009 at 12:04 PM

I agree with Fred, why would someone have to give their SS # in order to get a flu shot. I have taken flu shots for 10 years and have never give my SS # and have never been ask for it.
Posted by: Fred on Jan 21, 2009 at 03:42 AM

Why would someone have to give their Social Security Number in order to get a flu shot?
Posted by: Ryan on Jan 20, 2009 at 10:53 PM

Love these comments of good reporting, anytime someone information is stolen. Its MAY BE COMPROMISED, come on now...it was COMPROMISED. Give us a break
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