State Department Confirms Identity Theft Possible For Hundreds Of Passport Seekers

October 31, 2008 8:30 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. State Department has notified several hundred citizens awaiting passports that their personal information may have been compromised, warning them that they could be the victims of credit or identity theft.

"To date, we have notified 383 individuals whose records may have been assessed... for illicit purposes," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters during a daily briefing. "To the best of our knowledge, most of these individuals have not experienced identity theft. Law enforcement officials are still investigating this case, so... I can't say that 383 is going to be the final number. There may be - along the way, we find that there are more people."

"Our practice is to notify those individuals immediately and that we also offer free credit monitoring for one year for anyone whose file may have been accessed by this individual and any - and the potential for - and there's the potential for identity theft," McCormack added.