1 in 26.5 million

I received my official notification from the Department of Veteran Affairs that I was one of the 26.5 million veterans who had their social security number stolen through government negligence. The letter warns against phishing. Apparently, phishing scams are already underway. The letter warns to be vigilant. They give the 1-800-333-4636 Fed info number that I can use in case I notice suspicious activity on my financial accounts. As I read more of the letter, I begin to feel better. Maybe they recovered the numbers before the hit the wild. Maybe I’m just one of many million others and will be ignored. Then I read the last paragraph.

“In accordance with current policy, the Internal Revenue Service has agreed to forward this letter because we don not have current addresses for all affected individuals. The IRS has not disclosed your address or any other tax information to us.”

Oh god…

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