Investigators are examining how more than 170,000 low-income applicants of the so-called "Obama phone" program were put at high risk of identity theft.
The massive federal program doled out $1.6 billion to pay for free cell phones for qualifying applicants in 2011.
The investigation, announced Monday by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, will look into two companies that posted the applications for the government’s Lifeline program online.
Lifeline program applicants were exposed this spring to the risk of identity theft by the phone carriers that signed them up for the federal plan that subsidizes phone service for qualified low-income households.
More than 170,000 records from two companies participating in Lifeline -- Oklahoma City-based TerraCom Inc. and its affiliate, YourTel America Inc. -- were posted online, a Scripps News investigation found. The records, from residents of at least 26 states, include Social Security numbers, dates of birth and information about participation in other government-assistance programs. Of those records, 343 were viewed by unknown individuals, an official for both companies acknowledged.
According to Scripps, the Federal Communications Commission decided last year "to tighten program rules, which led participating companies to collect more sensitive information from applicants."
The personal records made public included Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and records regarding each applicant's past participation in other government programs.
Scripps reporters unearthed the records through a simple Google search.
The attorney generals in both Indiana and Texas are also looking into the publicly posted applications.
A Washington Free Beacon report previously found that the program was leading to enormous profits for prominent Obama donors.