Original article posted April 6, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—A warning to Alaskans who have had a federally guaranteed student loan.

 

The company Educational Credit Management Corporation reports that the personal information of 3.3 million federal student loan borrowers has been stolen, including names, addresses, birth dates and social security numbers.

The identities of at least 500 Alaskans and their financial information are in jeopardy after a portable medium containing students' personal data was stolen from a safe last month.

Federal loan contractor ECMC says the breach not only affects people going to school now, but anyone who has ever received a federal loan could be in danger. 

"The data contained borrowers that may have already paid back their loans," said David Hawn, Chief Development Business Officer of ECMC.

"So they are not still enrolled in school, maybe once enrolled but no longer there and they may not be current residents of the state of Alaska."

Here in the University of Alaska system, the impact of the stolen data was minimal, but financial advisors suggest present and past federal loan borrowers to check who their loan was guaranteed through.

"UAA has one student who borrowed a loan that was guaranteed by ECMC. UAS and UAF have zero," said Ted Malone, the Financial Director at UAA.