| September 27, 2004 |
In a timeline released by the Alpharetta-based company, ChoicePoint uncovers suspicious activity in some West Coast small business accounts |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| October 12, 2004 |
Security officials with ChoicePoint contact Los Angeles police, looking for help with fraudulent accesses to its files, according to a timeline released by the company. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| October 26, 2004 |
ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith and President Douglas Curling have ChoicePoint's board approve the 10b5-1 sale of 737,380 shares of stock. Rule 10b5-1 requires that the plan be adopted while the executive does not possess material nonpublic knowledge. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| October 27, 2004 |
During a sting operation in California, Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint faxed information to Olatunji Oluwatosin, a Nigerian national accused in one of the largest identity theft scandals in United States history. Oluwatosin was arrested at a Kinko's store after receiving a fax from the information-gathering spin-off of Equifax |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| December 14, 2004 |
At a preliminary hearing for Olatunji Oluwatosin, Detective Duane Decker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testifies that ChoicePoint representatives told him "something like 4 million people have been exposed.." to the identity theft |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 8, 2005 |
Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint informs 35,000 California residents by mail that their personal information may have been taken in an identity theft scam. California is the only state to require reporting these crimes to consumers (state law SB 1386). |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 14, 2005 |
ChoicePoint acknowledges that criminals had scammed the company out of the personal information it collects on virtually every person in the United States. They estimate that 35,000 Californians may be affected.
"California is the focus of the investigation and we don't have any evidence to indicate at this point that the situation has spread beyond California," company spokesman Chuck Jones said. "If at some point in time we get information that it's in other areas, we'll revisit the disclosure." |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 16, 2005 |
ChoicePoint announces that a credit scandal previously believed to have only affected California residents actually affects people from across the United States. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 16, 2005 |
Lt. Paul Denny of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department disputes the figures offered by ChoicePoint. "We know that there is a national number that is much larger than that" he said, referring to the 35,000 people ChoicePoint announced had been affected. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 19, 2005 |
Attorneys-General from 38 states demand that Alpharetta-based Choicepoint warn any victims in their states. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 21, 2005 |
ChoicePoint confirms that criminals gained access to records for about 145,000 people, allowing them to see information such as Social Security numbers, date of birth and driver's license numbers. It is one of the largest cases identity thefts ever reported.
Lt. Robert Costa of the Southern California High Tech Task Force reiterated that the unit believed the figure was closer to 500,000 and stated that ChoicePoint has hindered the investigation by failing to provide information requested in search warrants issued in November and December. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 24, 2005 |
Federal prosecutors claim that they informed ChoicePoint of major data security problems at the firm in early October. Earlier, ChoicePoint had claimed that they had informed California authorities of suspicious activity on certain accounts. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| February 24, 2005 |
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine puts Choicepoint on probation until they prove to him that they have "create[d] a system with which to promptly notify consumers of a security breach and ... hire[d] an outside firm to audit its security measures." |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 2, 2005 |
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause revealed an earlier ChoicePoint fraud in which the identities of 7,000 to 10,000 victims were exposed to thieves in 2002.
ChoicePoint chief executive Derek Smith told The Associated Press in an interview in February, 2005, that the company had never been victimized by this kind of criminal operation before. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 4, 2005 |
ChoicePoint announces that federal authorities are investigating the company because of recent data thefts. Additionally, the Security and Exchange Commission is looking into the sale of stock by top company employees. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| March 15, 2005 |
Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ChoicePoint President Derek Smith apologizes for exposing 145,000 people to identity theft. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| April 12, 2005 |
Data broker LexisNexis announced that up to 310,000 US accounts may have been compromised by unauthorized access to its computers. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| May 24, 2005 |
ChoicePoint is unable to meet a deadline set by Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine on February 24 to promptly notify consumers of a security breach and hire an outside consultant to provide security audits. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
| January 26, 2006 |
Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint settled data security breach charges and agrees to pay $10 million in civil penalties and $5 million for consumer redress. The consent judgement signed with the Federal Trade Commission is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. |
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ChoicePoint scandal |
Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint is implicated in one of the largest identity theft scandals in United States history
