Beware: False health care websites target identities

The deployment of the federal health care marketplace has been plagued with issues, from outages to long waiting times and inability to actually access the website. However, there is another problem that the government may not have anticipated: identity theft.

According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), there have been a number of sites that have popped up purporting to be the legitimate health care marketplace, but are actually run by cybercriminals hoping to gain access to citizens' private information. Using these faulty sites, thieves are able to collect Social Security numbers and bank account data.

"Over 50 million consumers will be eligible for insurance covered by the Affordable Care Act according to government information," said Kim States of the BBB in a statement. "With this huge number, scammers see opportunities. Consumers need to be even more careful to protect their personal information."

The BBB offered a number of tips to help individuals avoid being taken in by one of these websites, including:

• Don't use a Google search to find the website.
• Look for a digital certificate.
• If a government official emails or calls you unsolicited, ignore the communication.

For firms, it will be key to keep your operations and employees safe by ensuring they follow the above protocol.