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Customer Data Was on Stolen PC, Wells Fargo Says

configure   on 22 November 2003 - 01:59 · 17 comments & 1502 views

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Wells Fargo & Co. said on Friday it had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the burglar who stole a bank consultant's computer that had sensitive customer information on it.

The computer was one of several stolen earlier this month from the office of an analyst for the bank in Concord, California, the bank said.

The stolen PC contained names, addresses, bank account numbers and social security numbers for customers who had taken out personal lines of credit that are used for consumer loans and overdraft protection, according to Wells Fargo.

No passwords or personal identification numbers were among the stolen data and no other Wells Fargo customers were affected, the bank said.

News source: Reuters - Customers Data Was on Stolen PC, Well Fargo Says


Under a California law enacted earlier this year aimed at curtailing identity theft, companies are required to notify customers when their computerized personal information is believed to have been stolen. Citing the ongoing police investigation, Lynn Greenwood, senior vice president of Wells Fargo's home and consumer finance group she could not say how many customers might be affected.

"There is absolutely no indication anybody is misusing this information," she said. "We really, really regret this and are doing everything we possibly can to protect our customers."

The bank alerted affected customers this week, she said.

Greenwood said the bank was also monitoring customer accounts, changing account numbers and paying for a year's subscription to a credit monitoring service. The company, which set up a tip hotline at +1-800-782-7463, said it would ensure that customers are not affected financially by any unauthorized activity on their accounts.

The San Francisco-based bank has about 22 million customers in 22 states, but only a "small percentage" of those were affected, she said.

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 17 additional comments
(1 reply) #1 Balder on 22 Nov 2003 - 02:09
Where is the office security? Shouldn't the computer have been locked down to the desk or something? Geez.
#1.1 mipra on 22 Nov 2003 - 06:22
What do u expect from those people?
(2 replies) #2 markjensen on 22 Nov 2003 - 02:44
I like the quote from the bank that although names, addresses, bank account numbers and social security numbers for customers were stolen with the laptop, there were no passwords or personal identification numbers were among the stolen data.

Like that would make me feel all warm & fuzzy if I were a Wells Fargo Bank customer!
#2.1 gameguy on 22 Nov 2003 - 04:34
the point is they can't take your money, the worst thing is your SSN, which can be dangerous...
#2.2 markjensen on 22 Nov 2003 - 04:37
I'd rather lose a bit of money (with the free protection they offer) than have lost my SSN, so my identity could be used god-knows-where...
(1 reply) #3 FuhrerDarqueSyde on 22 Nov 2003 - 02:55
no schwizzeh eh? Thats whack, they need to like bolt it to the desk or somethin ;P
#3.1 mipra on 22 Nov 2003 - 06:22
HACKED....that's the word
#4 one321 on 22 Nov 2003 - 02:56
So should I be worried since I am a Wells Fargo customer? I have overdraft protection...does that also mean that I have no personal information security?
(1 reply) #5 hotrod on 22 Nov 2003 - 04:38
that's why customer data like this belongs on a centralized coorperate network!! DUH!
you got guys out in the field that need access to this data? then use a damn ras or vpn solution and keep **** like this off of a laptop.... wake up folks!
#5.1 mipra on 22 Nov 2003 - 06:22
Human error..that's what you are scared of...
(1 reply) #6 krzystealth on 22 Nov 2003 - 05:58
RAS and VPN won't stop people from storing data on their local PC's. The best way is using a dumb terminal (which WFB uses at the tellers). This was a contractor PC which no network admin in his right mind would allow anywhere NEAR his damn network. They should be looking at the security people as well as the network administrators. If they received an authorization to put the gear on the network, they need to talk to the person that allowed it. This isn't acceptable. If I EVER find a 'renegade' pc on my network, I'll personally go unplug it and let the department manager know that it isn't acceptable. How the hell did anyone allow this, especially in a BANK???

The PC should never have been allowed in the building in the first place.
#6.1 rossiknol on 22 Nov 2003 - 07:43
ridiculous

Last edited by 3530 on 22 Nov 2003 - 17:55
#7 mipra on 22 Nov 2003 - 06:21
Hell...That's gonna be really really scarry to know that
#8 chilliadus on 22 Nov 2003 - 20:37
Hmm, I've been working with computer security for 2 years. I can say with 100% certainty that a lot of internal rules had been broken before this could ever happen. Maybe the analyst was not happy with the speed of centralized data access and "just copied a small amount of data to the PC to work more efficiently". As said always, it's the human that's the weakest link.
#9 Ruffneckting on 25 Nov 2003 - 10:15
ENCRYPTION??????
#10 Ruffneckting on 25 Nov 2003 - 10:16
What a dumbass, someone needs to be fired.
#11 identitycrisis on 27 Nov 2003 - 06:59
Hello, my data was stolen in this theft, and I found this thread via a web search. WFB told me today that they arrested a suspect and recovered the laptop and that "the data was not accessed." My question is - and you might have some thoughts - how can they know it wasn't accessed - or copied? The case is now with the Secret Service, and the NorCal Computer Theft Task Force was brought in as well, I am told.

Not that I don't trust my government, or my bank, but the initial report in the SF Chronicle, which got hold of the police report, said the front door to the office suite was left unlocked and that the WFB contractor's office was the only one to have losses, even though the other three offices were forced open. Not to be paranoid, but it sounds suspicious, to say the least. And now they won't give me a copy of the police report.

Any thoughts on my question above would be welcome. Sorry I'm so wordy - I'm a writer, not a programmer.

Paz

p.s. here's the Chronicle article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/21/MNGLT37MH71.DTL

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