AUGUST 26, 2011

SOS officials to alert customers as a precaution

Lansing -- As a precaution, Michigan Secretary of State officials announced they will be notifying customers about thefts in two Macomb County branches, in which driver's license applications and state ID applications were stolen.

The thefts occurred at the Southwest Macomb PLUS Office, 28220 Dequindre Road, in Warren and the North Macomb PLUS Office, 51305 Gratiot Ave., in Chesterfield Township.

"We take our responsibility to ensure confidential information is secure seriously and that's why we immediately began an internal investigation and in-depth audit so we could determine which customers might be affected," said Tracy Ward, Michigan Department of State spokesperson. "As a precaution, we will be sending letters next week to each individual customer who may be affected. We have formally requested the Michigan State Police conduct a criminal investigation into the theft. We want whoever did this prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

In addition to providing information on fraud and identity theft to individual customers, Department officials will be providing a special information line for affected customers to call for additional information.

Through the audit, SOS officials have identified 13,966 documents that are missing. The documents, which date from 2009, were secured in locked, non-public areas of the branches.

"We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers and will do everything in our power to assist them now and in the future," Ward said. "We have also taken steps to enhance both our document processing and security systems."

Department officials have instituted other changes, including:

• Changes in document retention policies.
• Expanded use of microfilming and document shredding.
• An upcoming review of security procedures by the Michigan State Police.
• Expanded security camera use throughout the branch system.

Some of the documents contained Social Security numbers, which the Secretary of State's office is required to collect under state and federal law. The documents did not include credit card or financial account information.

####

For media questions, please call Tracy Ward at (517) 373-2520.