Tens of thousands of Bank of America customers are now at risk of being targeted for identity fraud after a massive security failure exposed their critical personal information.
A data breach notification in Maine says 57,028 customers at Bank of America were exposed due to a failure at Infosys McCamish Systems (IMS), an insurance business process solutions provider that the bank was using.
A notification letter from IMS data related to one of Bank of America’s deferred compensation plans were accessed, which contain virtually everything a hacker needs to steal someone’s identity.
“It is unlikely that we will be able to determine with certainty what personal information was accessed as a result of this incident at IMS.
According to our records, deferred compensation plan information may have included your first and last name, address, business email address, date of birth, Social Security number, and other account information.”
In response to the breach, IMS has offered victims a two-year complimentary identity theft protection program from Experian, and recommended that Bank of America customers reset their passwords and monitor their accounts for suspicious activity.
“Although we are not aware of any misuse involving your information, we are notifying you that Bank of America will provide a complimentary two-year membership in an identity theft protection service provided by Experian IdentityWorksSM.
You will not be billed for this service, but you must enroll for activation. This product provides you with daily monitoring of your credit reports from the three national credit reporting companies (Experian, Equifax® and TransUnion®), internet surveillance, and resolution of identity theft. This service will expire at the conclusion of the complimentary period and will not automatically renew.”
