Banks (Wachovia, Bank of America) Notify Customers of Data Theft

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/05/23/financial/f102607D66.DTL&type=business

Charlotte, N.C. (AP) -- More than 100,000 customers of Charlotte-based banks Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp. have been notified of the theft of their financial records by bank employees.

The records were allegedly sold to collection agencies by bank workers in New Jersey.

So far, Bank of America has alerted about 60,000 customers whose names were included on computer disks discovered by police, bank spokeswoman Alex Liftman said Monday.

more

[saltpoint]

1. This is not good.

I imagine that Easterners traveling by stage coach were appalled when outlaws and train robbers attacked somewhere along the routes west.

These days it's a more high-tech, white-collar kind of train robbery, but the idea of taking money hasn't changed much.

[colonel odis]

2. suddenly, all the credit reporting services are selling protection.

$9.95 a month and they'll let you look at your credit report or some such crap.

why should the administration push hard on this issue when one of their favorite industries stands to make a killing by working this side of the street.

[iamjoy]

4. It's Like The Mob

You would pay for protection from thugs hired by them.
Very clever.

[leftchick]

3. Whoa! "Bank security breach may be biggest" another link

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/23/news/fortune500/bank_info/?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. are among the major banks notifying more than 100,000 customers that their accounts and personal information could be at risk because their information was illegally sold by former bank employees.

The data-theft ring may have perpetrated the nation's largest ever banking security breach, a Hackensack, N.J., police statement quoted a Treasury Department representative as saying.

When the Hackensack police first announced the security breach on April 28, it estimated that more than 500,000 accounts were affected; but last week the department increased the total number of customer accounts that allegedly were breached to about 676,000.

"Sifting through the massive amount of computer information is an arduous task," Hackensack Detective Capt. Frank Lomia was quoted by Reuters as saying. "We believe there were at least 200,000 to 300,000 breaches, based on financial records we have seen on DRL's computers, and the number could be higher."

[Straight Shooter]

5. We're being softened up for identity confirmation laws.

How strange, with the recent legislation concerning proof of identity vis-a-vis our driver's licence, that there has been this incredible spate of breaches of identity security, both before and after the passage of that law.

And I agree, it's a racket to pay for protection. That's what their fees to the merchants should be for, not to line their grubby pockets with even more consumer dollars. Clearly, the credit card companies are failing the consumers.

[Zorra]

6. So from whom did Lembo obtain the list of people sought for debt

collection from? From the collection agencies? And why was he "allowed" to obtain this information? The article does not say, or am I just being dense?

Are these collection agencies subject to criminal prosecution for these actions?

[kskiska]

7. On a related matter, I've received a number of e-mails

purporting to be from financial institutions (Bank of America, Wachovia, etc.), informing me that someone has tried to get information from my account or that a merger has occurred, and that I would now need to update my banking information. Failure to do so will leave them no other recourse but to cancel my account. So far, I've had no accounts with any of these banks and have ignored the letters.

I've made an attempt to send a warning to a website I read about regarding these e-mails, but since my own accounts are not threatened, I can't seem to find the proper venue to do so.

[Shallah Kali]

8. That is Phishing - more info on what it is and what to do

here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm

Internet scammers casting about for people’s financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go “phishing.”

Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing your credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers send an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you deal with – for example, your Internet service provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message usually says that you need to “update” or “validate” your account information. It might threaten some dire consequence if you don’t respond. The message directs you to a Web site that looks just like a legitimate organization’s site, but it isn’t. The purpose of the bogus site? To trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

SNIP

Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get spam that is phishing for information, forward it to [e-mail]. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft. Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam

[mcscajun]

10. If I get one of these e-mails, I go directly to the website of the bank

and look for their Contact Us page, or do a search within their website for 'fraud' or 'abuse'. Most banks and financial institutions now have an e-mail address dedicated to this problem.

Ex: [e-mail]

I then forward the mail, with headers, to that address before deleting it from my inbox.

Of course, you NEVER want to use any of the links in these bogus e-mails.

[Skittles]

9. they wouldn't say whether or not it was encrypted?

then you can bet it wasn't - assholes

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I bank with B of A

My checkbook was stolen last summer and they were terrific to deal with. They immediately restored money to my account and helped me straighten everything out with my creditors, etc. I have to give them high marks for the way they handled this. I am sorry to hear they were victimized by their own employees.

[xchrom]

12. wow -- that's amazing.

i wonder if there will be criminal charges brought against the collection companies for soliciting this kind of info?

nah -- this is a republican time we live in -- that kind of moral corruption gives them hard-ons.