VA Offers Free Credit Monitoring and Fraud Protection Services

Affected Providers Must Sign Up Within 90 Days

Social workers who received notice of a data breach have been offered one year of free credit monitoring and fraud protection services by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA has sent notices to Medicare providers who were affected by the breach with details about how to sign up for the free services, including a 90-day time period to apply. The VA recommends that affected providers utilize the credit monitoring services. Some of the notices may have contained an incorrect Internet address. The correct Internet address to register for the credit monitoring service is www.identityforce.com/vabir. Social workers will need to enter a 16-digit verification number that is contained in the Credit Protection Notification Letter received from the VA.

There is no indication that any providers’ data has actually been misused as a result of the data breach. If a provider were to be the victim of identify theft, several notifications are recommended by the VA, including:

• Local law enforcement
• Federal Trade Commission
• Creditors
• Credit bureaus
• Veterans Affairs

For more information contact the toll-free VA call center: 1-877-894-2600

Click here for more information about the VA data breach and NASW’s response.