Bank of America declares 1.2 million account records "lost"
Monday, February 28, 2005
Charlotte, North Carolina — One of the biggest domestic banks in the United States, Bank of America, has admitted to losing computer tapes containing 1.2 million federal employee accounts, including the accounts of several U.S. senators, in a statement by the bank. According to the Pentagon, most of the accounts belong to staff and civilians in the Department of Defense. The bank said the tapes were lost in December 2004 as they were being transported to a data back-up centre by a commercial plane.
Currently, the U.S. Secret Service are looking in to the matter, a federal agency whose brief includes investigations of serious financial crime such as this. All parties concerned are worrying about possible identity theft as it contained valuable information such as bank account numbers, names and addresses.
Sources
edit- "Bank of America confirms lost data tapes" — Bank of America, February 25, 2005
- Sasha Talcott. "Financial data lost by Bank of America" — The Boston Globe (via boston.com), February 26, 2005
- "US bank 'loses' customer details" — BBC News, February 26, 2005