Identity thieves are trying to loot annuities in Colorado, according to officials at the Colorado Division of Insurance.
Division officials want consumers to talk to insurers about account safeguards.
“Individuals with annuities, or even life insurance, can contact their companies and ask what is being done to prevent large-scale breaches like those we see in the news,” officials say in a new consumer alert.
Consumers should also ask about ways they can protect themselves against identity thieves, officials say.
A copy of the alert is available here.
Officials at the Nebraska Department of Insurance and the Kansas Insurance Department warned in the fall that they had heard of identity thieves trying to loot annuities owned by consumers in their states.
Ken Selzer, the Kansas insurance commissioner, said in November that his department had received reports about annuity theft attempts from four different life insurers.
The identity thieves called to ask insurers for cash withdrawals. The thieves gave the life insurers accurate client information, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and account numbers, Selzer said.
One of the four thieves succeeded in getting a cash withdrawal, and that theft cost the insurer that provided the cash several thousand dollars, Selzer said.
Michael Conway, Colorado’s interim insurance commissioner, said in a statement that consumers in Colorado should be on their guard.
“Consumers should pay attention to all correspondence about their annuities, and be sure that account balances and personal information are correct,” Conway said
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