Shirlee Zerkel: More questions for Sandy Knoesel
From Shirlee Zerkel, November 8, 2008
Subject: More disk loss questions
Dear Ms. Knoesel:
I did receive the letter from Medical Mutual on Saturday, Nov. 8th. It explains the process for the credit checks.
Considering your email, the letter from Medical Mutual and other information on the topic I have some more questions.
1. Medical Mutual's website states such "disks were routinely mailed monthly."
You state in your email: "In previous months, these disks were hand delivered to STRS by a Medical Mutual staff member."
What is the real and true answer? Both can not be true!
2. If what you stated is true, why did the delivery method change change for that group of disks?
3. In the OFT's newsletter of Oct. 24, 2008, it is stated that if the disks are not found by Monday, the 27th, SERS and STRS will alert members. Oct. 27 was over 2 weeks ago and STRS has never alerted any retirees who were involved. WHY NOT?
We had to personally find out by calling Medical Mutual ourselves. We could not have even, done that, if we had not seen some of the articles such as the one OFT sent out.
4.Today, 16 days after the loss of the disks, I received a letter from Medical Mutual. As I reread your email to me, you state that we will be able to sign up free for identify theft protection.
Medical Mutual's letter says: "we have arranged for you to enroll, at no cost, in an online credit monitoring service provided by TransUnion." This service is not a protection service; it only monitors and reports unusual activity to the individual after the fraud against us has already been committed. This service is for one year. Things can happen to a person's loss of ID for a much longer period of time than that! The letter does go on to state that there will be up to $25,000 with no deductible, but this has limitations and exclusions. No other details are given about how the supposed protection is utilized. $25,000 could be a drop in the bucket for how much we could loose both financially and emotionally.
My question to you is: What happens to us if someone commits ID fraud against us after the one year monitoring service is finished?
5. I also have another concern. The letter from Medical Mutual recommended that we regularly review charges to our bank and credit cards. Is there some reason for us to be concerned that our bank account numbers may also have been lost on the disks? I know that STRS does have our bank account numbers for direct deposit of our pension checks! Do those numbers stay within STRS? Or are they for some reason on these disks?
Still waiting for relief from this stress caused by someone else,
Shirlee Zerkel
Subject: More disk loss questions
Dear Ms. Knoesel:
I did receive the letter from Medical Mutual on Saturday, Nov. 8th. It explains the process for the credit checks.
Considering your email, the letter from Medical Mutual and other information on the topic I have some more questions.
1. Medical Mutual's website states such "disks were routinely mailed monthly."
You state in your email: "In previous months, these disks were hand delivered to STRS by a Medical Mutual staff member."
What is the real and true answer? Both can not be true!
2. If what you stated is true, why did the delivery method change change for that group of disks?
3. In the OFT's newsletter of Oct. 24, 2008, it is stated that if the disks are not found by Monday, the 27th, SERS and STRS will alert members. Oct. 27 was over 2 weeks ago and STRS has never alerted any retirees who were involved. WHY NOT?
We had to personally find out by calling Medical Mutual ourselves. We could not have even, done that, if we had not seen some of the articles such as the one OFT sent out.
4.Today, 16 days after the loss of the disks, I received a letter from Medical Mutual. As I reread your email to me, you state that we will be able to sign up free for identify theft protection.
Medical Mutual's letter says: "we have arranged for you to enroll, at no cost, in an online credit monitoring service provided by TransUnion." This service is not a protection service; it only monitors and reports unusual activity to the individual after the fraud against us has already been committed. This service is for one year. Things can happen to a person's loss of ID for a much longer period of time than that! The letter does go on to state that there will be up to $25,000 with no deductible, but this has limitations and exclusions. No other details are given about how the supposed protection is utilized. $25,000 could be a drop in the bucket for how much we could loose both financially and emotionally.
My question to you is: What happens to us if someone commits ID fraud against us after the one year monitoring service is finished?
5. I also have another concern. The letter from Medical Mutual recommended that we regularly review charges to our bank and credit cards. Is there some reason for us to be concerned that our bank account numbers may also have been lost on the disks? I know that STRS does have our bank account numbers for direct deposit of our pension checks! Do those numbers stay within STRS? Or are they for some reason on these disks?
Still waiting for relief from this stress caused by someone else,
Shirlee Zerkel
posted by Kathie Bracy at 10:56 PM
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