Harvard University police and the Middlesex district attorney's office are investigating a security breach at the school after an undergraduate allegedly manufactured phony driver's licenses and university identification cards that can be used as debit cards and to enter residence halls, the university announced yesterday.
The student, who was not named by school or law enforcement officials and was not arrested, came to police attention after university police learned that their identification system was compromised, said Corey Welford, spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.
"Harvard University contacted us about a student who is alleged to have produced counterfeit Harvard identification cards," said a statement from the district attorney's office, which did not specify when or how the activity was discovered. "We, along with Harvard police, are continuing to investigate the circumstances, nature, and scope of this matter."
In an e-mail the university sent to account holders yesterday, officials said that no accounts had been improperly debited, but that they wanted to alert students and staff as a precaution.
The student made the cards with actual student identification numbers encoded in them, which caused concern among some students, but officials would not comment on how the student was able to produce the cards.
It was also unclear how many cards the student produced, officials said.
University officials would not comment on the student's status or possible disciplinary action. Any student who alters, falsifies, produces, or distributes the cards is subject to disciplinary action, according to the Harvard College Handbook for Students, which outlines university policy.
The cards, which have a magnetic strip on them, are issued to Harvard students, faculty, and staff members and are encoded with an identification number. A person can put money on the ID cards, called Crimson Cash, and use them like a debit card to purchase items at stores on and off campus, buy items at campus vending machines, pay for campus laundry machines, and gain access to residence and dining halls.
However, university officials said that there was no reason to believe any account had been wrongly charged and that there was no threat to safety in campus buildings.
"The investigation to date has produced no indication that the student had access to personal information, financial records, Social Security numbers, or credit card information," according to a statement posted on Harvard's website.
"Although the university is not aware of suspicious charges to such accounts resulting from this incident, as a precaution we are in the process of notifying holders of active accounts and asking that they monitor their accounts for any suspicious activity. Although Harvard IDs also can be used to gain initial access to the entryways of some campus buildings, we do not believe that this incident has created a safety risk for the community."
The university sent an e-mail to account holders about 4 p.m. notifying them of the breach.
"Although Harvard ID cards may be used to make charges against Crimson Cash accounts, we have no reason to believe that any Crimson Cash accounts were improperly debited," according to the e-mail obtained by the Globe. "Nevertheless, as a reasonable precaution, you should review your Crimson Cash account balance."
Pallas Snider, a Harvard student from Annapolis, Md., said she checked her Crimson Cash account after she read the e-mail.
"I was worried, so I went to check my own account and nothing had changed," said the sophomore social studies major. "I guess I'm lucky. I'm hoping they put a stop to it at this point; I know a lot of students keep quite a bit of money on their accounts."
Anyone who detects suspicious charges is asked to notify the university by sending e-mail to Crimson_Cash@harvard.edu.
Linda K. Wertheimer of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
