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Criminals could score an identity theft touchdown by gleaning Troy Aikman's Social Security number from a Texas Web site.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback's information, along with that of thousands of other Texans,
The data was discovered by Steven Peisner, the president of Sell It Safe Inc., a Calabasas, Calif., company that scours the Web in search of exposed financial data.
The Social Security numbers were written on public documents the state made available online.
Scott Haywood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Phil Wilson's office, said it has to balance its responsibilities for posting public information and protecting personal information. Consumers whose Social Security numbers have been posted online can request that they be removed.
The chief executive of the Tempe, Ariz. identity theft prevention company LifeLock Inc. put his own Social Security number online in a show of confidence in his company's services — and then, of course,
Todd Davis, Lifelock's chief executive, said the thief used a lender that did not check with one of the three national credit bureaus, all of which had fraud alerts on their files for him.
The alerts proved successful in past attempts by other scammers, Mr. Davis said.
He said the culprit was Daniel Keith Brown of Fort Worth; Mr. Brown confessed to The Dallas Morning News, according to an article the paper ran Monday. "I did it," he said. "I was desperate for the money."
Fort Worth police officials would not confirm Mr. Brown as a suspect, and they said their investigation is ongoing.
Mr. Davis said that he used LifeLock's services to track down Mr. Brown, and the theft did not have any lasting repercussions. "There's nothing on my credit report."
LifeLock was also in the news last month when its founder and chief marketing officer, Robert J. Maynard Jr., resigned amid allegations of fraud, including an incident where he was accused of trying to use his father's identity to open a card account.
Security Watch is American Banker's weekly roundup of news and developments in data security and their impact on financial services companies.
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