Over 100,000 customers of Wachovia Bank and Bank of America have been notified by the banks that employees may have stolen their financial records.
“We are trying to communicate with our customers as promptly as possible,” said Bank of America spokeswoman Alex Liftman. “So far, we have no evidence that any of our customer information has been used for account fraud or identity theft.”
The records in question are said to have been sold to collection agencies in New Jersey. Bank of America has notified nearly 60,000 customers, and Wachovia has identified nearly 48,000 customers whose info may have been stolen. According to AP,
The theft was exposed last month when police in Hackensack, N.J., charged nine people, including a business owner, a New Jersey state worker and seven bank workers, in a plot to steal financial records of thousands of bank customers.
The bank employees accessed records for customers of Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Commerce Bank, PNC Bank of Pittsburgh, Wachovia and Bank of America, according to Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa.
Wachovia and Bank of America are both providing the customers whose info may have been stolen with free credit reporting services. Wachovia has given its customers a toll-free number to call the bank if they have any questions.
The bank employees also reportedly accessed records of customers of Commerce Bank and PNC Bank of Pittsburgh. One man, Orazio Lembo Jr. of Hackensack has made millions off of the crime and already spent most of it, authorities say.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
