Students and concerned parents have come forward since early February, with reports of identity theft at Alabama A&M University after incidents of a security breach occurred, which compromised several students social security numbers.
Tiktok user Averi Tywan (@flylawtok) displayed an image of the email on video as he explained the situation. The video currently has over 180,000 views and over 37,000 likes.
“Apparently, the faculty and administration at Alabama A&M University have been stealing the students’ social security numbers. They went and filed said students in their taxes. So, when the parents and guardians went to file their kids on their taxes, they couldn’t because somebody had already filed… Now y’all are in trouble with the IRS, and the IRS don’t play.”
The Tiktok video came shortly after a statement released from Alabama A&M on February 12th to students and parents confirming that they were made aware of “several incidents of of students’ social security numbers being compromised.”
“On Monday February 12, 2024, Alabama A&M University and its Administration was made aware of several incidents whereby students’ Social Security Numbers were potentially compromised. Alabama A&M University takes such incidents seriously and has initiated internal and external processes to investigate this matter.
“If you have not filed your individual taxes and/or your custodian was denied filing your education credit, please email us at studentaffairs@aamu.edu with your full name, A-number and a contact number so we can reach out to you. Additionally, we ask you to file a fraud report with the IRS as they will investigate and identify the person responsible for filing a fraudulent tax return on your behalf. Filing an IRS report will allow prosecution through the proper channels. Please be advised that University does not have the right to file a complaint with the IRS on your behalf.” –Alabama A&M University
One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she found out she was one of the victims of this breach after learning her credit score dropped.
“Somewhere around February 6th, it just dropped by 70 points and I noticed there was a personal loan of $500 that came out in my name,” the student says.
Parents have also taken to social media claiming their child’s tuition forms were used fraudulently on tax returns. “I spoke with my mom and she had just recently filed our taxes and she’s noticing that it’s taking a little bit longer for it to be rejected or accepted so we’re still waiting on that.”
Freshman Chance Williams says the university should have announced the breach sooner. “We put our trust and our faith in this school. Obviously, minds when things like this arise, it puts doubt in the mind of students you know, am I safe here? In terms of parents, parents are flipping out because it’s like I sent my child here, did I make a mistake?”
It is still unclear exactly how many students have been affected by this breach.
The university has since released an update last Wednesday, in an effort to address student’s ongoing concerns regarding the incident. “Since being alerted of the potential compromising of some students’ personal data, Alabama A&M University initiated investigations to identify any possible campus-related issues,” The statement reads.
“Last week, the University issued guidance to students to alert AAMU if they believed their personal information had been impacted in any way. Students were also encouraged to file fraud claims with appropriate authorities specific to any such incidents. A thorough review of our systems has confirmed no evidence of a security breach allowing anyone affiliated with AAMU to illegally access or use student social security numbers as reported by local media within the past few days.”
“We have hired a third party vendor to probe our systems and examine each reported student’s case,” said Chief Information Officer Dr. Kylie Nash. “The investigation will take time to determine the full impact to each student, and we ask your patience in that process.”
Alabama A&M has requested that if you believe your social security number has been compromised, please contact cyberreporting@aamu.edu.
