Officials report no cases of ID theft involving pay system

All Hands, June, 2006 by Gerry J. Gilmore

Ro cases of computer scamming or identity theft involving DOD's computerized pay services system have been reported, a Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) spokeswoman said recently.

"There has not been any identity theft and/or 'phishing' scams with the 'myPay' site," DFAS spokeswoman Carol Garcia said in a phone interview with American Forces Press Service from her office in Denver. DFAS provides pay services to members of the military and DOD civilians.

Phishing is sending e-mails falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise as part of a scam. Information obtained this way is often used in identity-theft crimes.

Garcia said DFAS has received feedback from concerned customers about the security of financial information on the myPay Web site after the publication of a news release that offered tips on avoiding being scammed by con artists who cruise the Internet in search of the unwary.

"I think they took that one message and misread it," Garcia said of the DFAS release.

The myPay system safeguards customers' financial information using up-to-date encryption methods and security firewalls, officials said. Customers access myPay using a personal identification number.

"DFAS continues to stress the security of our systems and the privacy measures we take in protecting pay information," a DFAS statement said.

DFAS employs secure technology that "meets or exceeds security requirements in private industry worldwide," according to the statement.

Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service, Alexandria, Va.