Reward offered in theft of ID files

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 7, 2006 at midnight

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The company that processes child-support payments for Colorado is offering $10,000 for information leading to the recovery of a stolen computer that has put tens of thousands of residents at risk of identity theft.

State investigators said Monday they are questioning a number of Affiliated Computer Service employees in connection with the missing desktop computer but have made no arrests.

The computer contains names and personal information on about 1.4 million child-support recipients, payers and new hires within the state.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Denver police are investigating.

"We have a number of people we're talking to," said Peter Mang, deputy director for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's investigative support services. "The investigation is proceeding along as quickly as possible. We're satisfied with the direction it is going."

Officials would not disclose the identity of at least two persons of interest in the theft.

ACS spokesman Kevin Lightfoot said the company is determined to recover the computer and pursue the thief.

"We take this matter very seriously," Lightfoot said. "We regret any inconvenience the incident may have caused."

The computer was stolen from the Denver offices of ACS during the weekend of Oct. 14. It contained information from the state's Family Support Registry and new-hire directory.

Dallas-based ACS, one of the largest outsourcing companies in the nation, processes child-support payments for the Colorado Department of Human Services for $5.5 million a year.

The names, birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers of at least 500,000 child-support payers and recipients were on the password-protected computer and exposed to ID theft.

The information in some cases dates back decades, according to people who have received letters in the past week notifying them of the theft.

The computer also contains personal information on nearly 1 million new hires in Colorado and other states, which employers are required by federal law to file with the state each month.

The information is used to cross- check the employment status of those who pay child support or owe back child-support payments.

Authorities said there is no evidence the thief was after personal information.

But Michael DeVault, of Arvada, said he's become the victim of credit card fraud since being notified about the theft of the computer.

DeVault said that someone has applied for a credit card twice over the Internet, using his name. He said he found out about it after a creditor sent a letter to his parents' house in Lakewood, where he hasn't lived for 19 years.

"It's way too coincidental that someone would try to use my information twice," he said. "They had my name, Social . . . and everything else. They did it online. I hope if this case comes to a conclusion, I get a good chunk of the reward."

Others such as Mike Burkett, of Grand Junction, said the damage has already been done.

He complained that he had to place fraud alerts on his credit reports at a time when he and his wife are trying to buy a house on 10 acres.

"They claim all the records are secure and protected," he said. "That's a crock of baloney. It's making it difficult for us to buy a house."

The theft of the computer is the latest in a string of security problems for ACS.

In February, a magnetic data tape was stolen from the company, compromising credit numbers used in transactions at Denver International Airport.

In August, personal information of about 32,000 student loan recipients was exposed to other users of a federal Web site because of a huge ACS software glitch. Last May, two computers containing personal information on Motorola employees were stolen from ACS' Chicago office.

In 2004, a Weld County jail inmate hacked into the county's computer system, maintained by ACS, and downloaded the personal information of county employees.

washingtonam@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5086

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