College rep does not believe device was stolen

Feb 27, 2015 18:29 GMT  ·  By

Social security numbers of about 5,300 former students of Pitt Community College may have been exposed when a thumb drive that was supposed to reach a secure location was lost by the employee charged with the task.

The incident occurred on January 21, but the announcement was delayed until recently because the college had to determine whose data was lost in order to know who should be notified.

Rick Owens, vice president of administrative services at the educational institution told WITN that besides the social security numbers, the storage device also contained other information, such as full names and addresses.

The affected individuals include those who took their High School Equivalence (GED exam) at Pitt Community College as far back as January 1, 1967. People taking the equivalence after December 31, 2001 were not impacted.

Owens does not believe that the storage device was stolen, as the blunder occurred during a transition to a new computerized system that required data on paper to be converted to digital format.

“It may have simply been discarded with materials that were being prepared for shredding,” he said.

Nevertheless, the affected individuals are advised to monitor their bank accounts for possible fraud attempts, and if suspicious activity is observed, they should report it to their financial institutions.