Express Scripts, a St. Louis-based provider of pharmacy benefit management services, has notified the FBI of an apparent extortion attempt possibly involving millions of patient records.
Company officials announced Thursday that they had received an anonymous letter in early October that contained personal information on 75 members, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers and some prescription information, and asking for an undisclosed sum of money. The company immediately contacted the FBI and those named in the letter and launched its own investigation.
"We have been conducting a thorough investigation since we received this threat and we are taking it very seriously," said George Paz, the company's chairman and CEO, in a press release. "We are cooperating with the FBI and are committed to doing what we can to protect our members' personal information and to track down the person or persons responsible for this criminal act."
The company, which handles about 500 million prescriptions a year and manages benefits for tens of millions of people, is billed as the third largest PBM company in North America.
Company officials say they employ a variety of security measures to protect members' personal information. The company has since launched a Web site, www.esisupports.com, where members can learn more about the incident and access information on how to protect against identity theft.
"As security experts know, no data system is completely invulnerable," Paz said. "We continue to conduct our investigation."