Seattle’s chief data privacy officer falls victim to identity theft, and shares tips on how to recover

Even for someone in charge of protecting the data of an entire city, complete privacy is impossible.

Ginger Armbruster, Seattle’s chief data officer, recently found herself on the other side of a breach when she discovered that a fraudster had used her leaked information to open a fake bank account and float thousands of dollars in bad checks.

“I’m on a path of worrying more about other people than my own experience,” said Armbruster, who has been in social media since receiving his master’s degree from the University of Washington in 2013. “So for this to happen to me … this is something that we try very hard not to allow to happen to anyone, that their information is released and used for purposes they do not intend, because they do not intend it at all.”

In a post this month on the city’s Tech Talk blog, Armbruster shared how he found out over the holidays that his personal information had been stolen. He opened a suspicious piece of mail from a well-known bank he doesn’t use to find a statement showing that someone had opened an account in his name and earned nearly $5,000 in overdraft fees.

His post goes on to share important lessons he learned from this ordeal and offers tips (below) to help others who have fallen victim to such theft. Armbruster’s goal is also to bring more awareness to the City of Seattle’s Data Privacy Week.

As a professional whose job it is to recognize the risks and understand the consequences of identity theft, Armbruster still felt the sting of the abuse.

“He stole my identity, and he used that in ways I didn’t intend,” he told GeekWire. “Now I have to prove to someone else that it wasn’t me.”

During an investigation that lasted 30 to 90 days, Armbruster found himself in the awkward position of being treated as a suspect by the bank’s fraud department while they verified his case.

In her day job, Armbruster works with a team of 18 people on public records data compliance, managing and accessing city and community data. He works closely with Seattle’s chief information security officer to advise city departments on data collection reduction and management.

Armbruster admits that on a personal level, the scale of modern data breaches is “too much” for the human brain to process.

“The wicked have all the time in the world,” he said. “That’s their full-time job.”

In 2021, approximately 23.9 million people (9% of the US population aged 16 or older) were victims of identity theft during the past 12 months, according to the Department of Justice. The rise of artificial intelligence tools is making scams more sophisticated and harder to detect, reports the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Armbruster’s ability to respond to his data breach took a lot of effort, patience and know-how – qualities that many vulnerable citizens may not have.

“You have to be computer literate to be able to fix the problem,” he said, noting that banks often prefer online account creation over phone calls.

People often feel ashamed or embarrassed to be victims of such crimes. Armbruster insists it doesn’t have to be that way.

“It’s not a shame, you didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “You can do other things to help yourself, but someone did it to you.”

In his Tech Talk blog post, Armbruster says, among other things, that victims need to act quickly and stay vigilant. Here are some key takeaways from the road map to recovery from identity theft:

• Consider that you have already leaked: Armbruster warns that given the scale of the global breach, you should consider that your data is already on the dark web and it’s only a matter of time before it’s used.
• Set up your credit: His number 1 recommendation is to freeze credit at all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). He calls it “the ultimate ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign” for identity thieves.
• Open the whole piece of mail: Ignore “solicit” notices from banks you don’t use. These are usually the first indication that a fake account has been opened in your name.
• Report to the FBI: Use IC3.gov to file a formal complaint. This creates a paper trail for the organization that is important if you need to dispute charges or involve the local police later.
• Change “college password”: Use this as a catalyst to finally find a password manager and answer old, weak passwords – especially for financial and email accounts.
• Kill them with kindness: When dealing with bank investigators, Armbruster notes that being kind to customer service representatives makes them more likely to help you navigate the complex system of the fraud department.