The FBI has become involved in an identity theft case involving a Mason eye wear retailer.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation became involved Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the investigation of Luxottica's computer servers after a hacker tapped into them, said Hamilton Twp. Lt. Jeff Braley, who heads the Warren County Cyber Crimes Task Force.

The hacker grabbed personal information from about 59,000 former employees, Braley said. Braley said he was called in by Luxottica's technology staff in September, after they discovered the breach.

The server contained information — such as Social Security numbers and addresses — for 59,419 employees of the Things Remembered retail chain, a subsidiary of Luxottica, whose retail headquarters is in Mason, he said.

Braley said investigators traced the breach to an IP address owned by a resident of the Glendale, Ariz., area. However, he was careful to note that person might not have been the one on the keyboard.

For jurisdictional reasons, Braley turned the case over the FBI.

Luxottica officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Things Remembered operates more than 600 locations nationwide, according to the company's Web site.

There is no "100 percent, bulletproof way" to protect against identity theft, said Tami Nealy, spokeswoman for Lifelock, a identify theft protection company. However, those affected by a security breach should contact a major credit bureau and ask that a fraud alert be placed on their account, then renew that alert without fail every 90 days, Nealy said.

"That's the best front line of defense," she said. "These thieves are smart, they're savvy, they know how to do this and they know they don't have to act on it today or in 90 days. They can hold onto that personal information because it does not expire.

"Your name, Social Security number, your date of birth are with you from now until you pass on."

Nealy also suggested obtaining a credit report and reporting any suspicious account activity to the police as soon as possible.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.