National American University in Rapid City, South Dakota is investigating whether some student financial records were handled correctly after they were found thrown into an outdoor dumpster, according to The Rapid City Journal.
Thousands of financial records including students’ names, addresses and even Social Security numbers were discovered left in a dumpster, after the university relocated to a new campus earlier this year. No identity theft has been reported, but officials said any thief could easily have used such data to commit fraud.
University attorney Thomas Johnson says the university’s position is that the documents were properly handled during a recent move from one campus to another or that they should have been destroyed “in a secure manner” by a contractor hired by the university.
The university will be investigating whether a security breach occurred. The federal U.S. attorney’s office and the state attorney general’s office have also offered to take the documents.
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