According to the Kitsap Sun and Q13Fox, 16 students and employees at Olympic College reported that their credit cards had been compromised. The victims told college security officers that their credit card companies notified them of suspicious activity.

According to the college’s Vice President of Administration Bruce Riveland, no theft devices—such as skimmers used to read and store credit card information— were found at the ATMs or point-of-sale swipe machines on campus. An internal investigation showed that some of the credit card numbers were used at out of state Walmarts and even for a night out in Canada.

Still unknown is when the data was compromised or if the scam started at the college. While the Bremerton police are still investigating, Olympic College officials are asking students to check their credit card statements and report any suspicious activity.

How to Detect Misuse:
Monitor your financial accounts, billing statement and credit reports for any suspicious activity. Remember, you may request a free annual credit report from each of the major nationwide credit bureaus at www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.

Steps to Recover from ID Theft:
Although the victims did not say how much was taken from their accounts, having your identity compromised can be extremely damaging. If you become a victim of identity theft there are certain steps you should take without delay:

• Place a fraud alert and/or security freeze on your credit reports.
• Report the crime to your bank, creditors, and credit reporting agencies.
• Report the crime to the police or sheriff's office in the area where you live or where the crime occurred.
• Send a copy of the police report to the three major consumer-reporting agencies.
• Ask businesses to provide you with information about transactions made in your name.
• Contact the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT.

~ Rachel Vinson, Public Affairs Intern