A data security breach at a nonprofit student loan company compromised the personal information of 76,939 Maryland residents, according to the Identity Theft unit of the state attorney general's office.
A form of "portable media" was stolen in March from Minnesota-based Education Credit Management Corp. containing data like names, addresses and Social Security numbers for about 3.3 million people nationwide, the Associated Press reports.
If you're affected, you should be receiving a letter shortly explaining what you can do to protect yourself from identity theft, said Hugh Williams of the Id Theft unit.
Here are some of those tips:
If there's a chance your personal information may have been compromised, here are four steps that you can take to help prevent identity theft and fraud:
1. Place a fraud alert on your credit report. Call each of the three credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on your credit report, they will then send you a copy of your credit report. A fraud alert lasts 90 days, after which you can renew it by calling the Credit Reporting Agency again. When you place the fraud alert with one of the three agencies, they are required to alert the other two, however, to get all 3 of your credit reports, you must call all 3 agencies.
Equifax Experian TransUnion
1-888-766-0008 1-888-397-3742 1-800-680-7289
2. Monitor your credit report. In Maryland, state and federal laws allow you to view your credit report for free twice per year, from each of the three credit reporting agencies, for a total of six. This means you can view your credit report every two months to look for anything out of the ordinary. If you find accounts that you did not open, or collections notices for charges you did not incur, you may be a victim of fraud. The best way to catch identity theft early is to frequently view your credit report. Get your free credit report through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by going to