Data Breach FAQ
What happened?
On Saturday July 27, the paper files of 770 clients of DPSS Adult Protective Services were stolen from a locked vehicle that was parked within the City of Riverside. The theft was exclusively of paper records that were being transported for archiving and storage. Most of the files pertained to clients in eastern Riverside County (Coachella Valley). There was no breach of the county’s electronic system.
How did it happen?
A supervisor for DPSS Adult Protective Services was transporting client files to be archived from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Palm Desert offices to a secure storage location in the City of Riverside. The supervisor’s locked vehicle was broken into and burglarized.
Who is investigating the theft?
Riverside Police Department is conducting an investigation. Since we don’t know who stole the files or for what reason, we will notify those whose information was released if the investigation uncovers additional details about what happened to their personal information. A police report is available upon request by calling (951) 358-3010 or by requesting the report in writing from DPSS at the address provided below.
May I obtain a copy of the records that were contained in my file?
If you would like to access your case files, please send a request in writing to ASD Custodian of Records, PO BOX 51720, Riverside 92517-9801.
Does someone other than DPSS have information about me?
If you received a letter from DPSS, then a paper record containing some information about you was stolen from a locked car in the City of Riverside on July 27. If you did not receive a letter but want to check whether you are one of the individuals affected by the theft, please call (951) 358-3010. A representative will be available to help you between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. You may also send correspondence to:
County of Riverside – Department of Public Social Services
Assurance and Review Services
7894 Mission Grove Parkway, Suite 100
Riverside, CA 92508
What information may have been in the stolen files?
The files included information such as full name, address, date of birth and social security information. However not every file contained the same information. Therefore, an audit of each file was conducted to determine the contents of each record. The letter you received from DPSS describes the specific information that was in the file that was stolen. If you did not receive a letter but want to determine if your case record was among those stolen, please call (951) 358-3010 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday—Friday for additional information.
What you can do to help protect your private information?
We are committed to helping safeguard privacy and the security of information about our clients. To assist them, we are offering one year of credit monitoring and reporting services at no cost to them. This service is performed through Experian’s IdentityWorks program. This product helps detect possible misuse of personal information and provides identity protection services focused on immediate identification and resolution of identity theft. Experian is an organization that watches for and reports unusual credit activity. If requested to do so, IdentityWorks will also request that the three major credit bureaus place a “Fraud Alert.”
How do I sign up for IdentityWorks services?
The letter that the affected client received has instructions on how to enroll for IdentityWorks on a specific website. Those instructions also include a date to enroll by and an activation code to authorize the service.
DPSS also encourages clients to report any identify theft or fraudulent transactions to their local police department and credit card company (ies). Clients can reach all three of the major credit bureaus by calling any one of the toll-free fraud numbers below.
| Experian | Equifax
|
TransUnion LLC
|
| 1-888-397-3742 | 1-800-525-6285 | 1-800-680-7289 |
| Address:
475 Anton Blvd. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 |
Address:
P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348 |
Address:
P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 |
Why should I give DPSS my information in the future?
DPSS has a long track record of successfully protecting information through secure records management and enforcement of client privacy rules. Our agency maintains about 1.5 million client records. The breach affected and exposed a small fraction of just 1 percent of the total records our department manages each year.
How will DPSS protect us from future breaches?
We take our obligation to safeguard your privacy seriously and we value your trust. We are responding to this unfortunate incident by re-educating our staff on the appropriate transportation and storage of client records and by conducting a thorough administrative review to identify what additional measures need to be implemented to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
How is DPSS responding internally to this incident?
DPSS is conducting a thorough administrative review of this incident, however we are prevented by law from disclosing personnel actions that were taken in response to this incident.
Who may I contact at Riverside Police Department about the investigation?
If anyone has information that would aid in the recovery or location of the stolen files, we ask that they contact Detective Brian Money, Riverside Police Department at (951) 353-7118 or Bmoney@riversideca.gov
I am with the media and I have some questions regarding the breach?
You’ll find our news release with the latest information in the “News and Events” section at https://rivcodpss.org You can also direct follow-up questions to Senior Public Information Specialist Gene Kennedy. Email him at: gkennedy@rivco.org
