Information Of 11K Main Line Health Employees Compromised: Report

Nearly 11,000 Main Line Health employees have had their personal information compromised by a phishing scam, according to reports.

Main Line Health was not aware of the incident, which reportedly occurred on February 16, until the IRS issued a national alert warning of the scam taking off.

Hospitals which had information taken included Lankenau, Bryn Mawr, Paoli, and Riddle, reports state.

Main Line Health officials have set up an informational call center and credit monitoring services for employees that may have been effected, according to 6 ABC.

The scam comes in the form of an email claiming to be from company executives requesting personal information on their employees, the IRS said.

Officials said that scam was capitalizing on tax season.

“This is a new twist on an old scheme using the cover of the tax season and W-2 filings to try tricking people into sharing personal data. Now the criminals are focusing their schemes on company payroll departments,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a news release. “If your CEO appears to be emailing you for a list of company employees, check it out before you respond. Everyone has a responsibility to remain diligent about confirming the identity of people requesting personal information about employees.”

These emails, also known as "spoofing emails," will sometimes contain real, accurate information, such as the name of a company's CEO.

The emails may take many forms, but the IRS notes that these are some of the common refrains:

• Kindly send me the individual 2015 W-2 (PDF) and earnings summary of all W-2 of our company staff for a quick review.
  
• Can you send me the updated list of employees with full details (Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Home Address, Salary).
  
• I want you to send me the list of W-2 copy of employees wage and tax statement for 2015, I need them in PDF file type, you can send it as an attachment. Kindly prepare the lists and email them to me asap.

Main Line Health added that no patient information had been compromised, according to Philly.com.