Courtesy of Jim Dressel at Bowlers Journal (
http://www.bowlersjournal.com)
IDENTITY-STEALING ALERT FOR ABC BOWLERS
In every tournament bowling activity involving prize
money payouts, the promoter must have access to the
cashers’ social security numbers to comply with
government regulations. This information is considered
extremely confidential. Yet we’ve been told that when
the names of Super Bracket cashers in the ABC
Tournament at Knoxville were mailed out to the team
captains, the social security numbers were also
printed. "Considering the preponderance of identity theft
in these times, I am literally sick to my stomach tonight
knowing that thousands of people now have my SS
number," one of the bowlers told us.
Jack Mordini was upset over the incident, even if the
inclusion was inadvertent. "I just found out about it,"
said ABC’s Assistant Executive Director. "If that
occurred, it’s very wrong, and it’s very regrettable. We
just learned about it, so we want to check it out, of
course. But if [what you say] happened, we will do
whatever we can to correct any wrong [that has
occurred]."
Meanwhile, we understand there are certain steps that
can be taken if you find that your social security number
has "gone public." First, you can report it to the fraud
line at the Social Security Administration
(800-269-0271) if you think it has gotten into the wrong
hands, or is being misused. There are several credit
reporting agencies, like Equifax (888-766-0008) to
which it also can be reported so your number can be
put on a fraud alert. There are also other agencies both
of the above might be able to direct you to for further
protection. And feel free to ask questions. As we alerted
our readers to last week, identity theft literally can all but
ruin a person's life.
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Scott Scriver
http://www.virtualtournaments.comhttp://www.varsitybowling.comhttp://www.leaguesecretary.com
