Earlier this month, I blogged about the Certegy data breach, where a not very HONEST employee got caught selling information to an unidentified data-broker. Certegy was quick to assure the public that none of this information would be used to commit fraud because it was being used by “legitimate marketing firms.”
Now the number of records (people compromised) has risen significantly after Certegy filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Tampa Bay Business Journal Reports:
An ongoing investigation has determined that about 8.5 million consumer records were stolen, according to a July 25 Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS), the Jacksonville-based parent company of St. Petersburg-based Certegy.
According to Fidelity, Certegy’s parent company the investigation is continuing and this number could grow.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollom listed some useful information for victims in a press release, which said:
For more information, consumers may call Certegy at 866-498-9916 or may visit their website at http://www.certegy.com. Affected consumers are encouraged to take the precautionary steps outlined in the Certegy letter, including obtaining a free fraud alert from one of the credit reporting agencies. Furthermore, if consumers believe at any time they are victims of identity theft, they should report this to the police and request that the national credit bureaus place a fraud alert on their credit reports. Consumers should also notify banks and creditors involved of questionable charges or accounts, keep records of all telephone calls and follow up in writing with credit bureaus, banks and creditors.
If you received a letter from Certegy and you continue to receive marketing calls that you suspect result from this data breach, please report this activity to the Attorney General’s Citizens Services Hotline at 1-866-9-No SCAM (1-866-966-7226). Additional information about protecting yourself from identity theft is available online at http://www.myfloridalegal.com/identitytheft.
I’ve received a lot of comments on my original post, including some (anonymous) claiming their information was used for fraud. Unfortunately, I cannot verify this information, but someone with the e-mail address LPLong@Yahoo.com claims to be collecting victims to file a class action law suit.
My original post with comments, here.
Press release from Florida Attorney General (Bill McCollom), here.
Note this is probably the right place to verify information, if you receive a letter. If you believe you are fraud victim based on the Certegy breach, I would let them know about it, also.
Tampa Bay Business Journal article, here.
10 users commented in " Certegy reveals their data breach is a lot larger than originally reported "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI AM ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS! I received a letter from Certegy stating that my banking account information was stolen and sold to data brokers. I’ve taken the last 5 days off of work to try and take the necessary steps to protect my identity, change bank accounts, put fraud alerts at the major Credit Bureaus, etc. I AM DEFINITELY interested in a class action law suit, and/or plan on contacting my own attorney on Monday. Apparently my bank (Wachovia)’s fraud dept had not even heard of the incident. After going to 3 branches, and no one knew anything about it, I finally called the bank’s FRAUD Dept and they issued me a case number. My question is: if Certegy notified the financial institutions, why didn’t my bank notify me? if my bank is “on top” of it, aren’t they liable for protecting me and notifying me? Who is liable for future incidents that may occur relating to my identity since it is now available and sold to so many different data brokers? Am I to be responsible for all of the potential legal fees involved with correcting my credit history, my banking, and all of my associated banking records? debit cards, Visa, Master Card, mortgage, and everything else under the sun? The Certegy letter and also Wachovia recommends filing a police report. I tried that but the City of Raleigh police said that they can’t file a report unless something has happened to my credit and there is an actual incident. That’s just great! So I have to put in several hours a week monitoring my credit with each of the 3 Credit Bureaus? and which, they already have some incorrect data and have me associated with another person in Virginia who has my same name. What a fricking mess. Stupid idiots. Didn’t Certegy make sure their employees were BONDED and INSURED and fingerprinted, just as ALL banking employees must be? no matter what your position?
I also received a letter from Certegy. My bank, WAMU, also knew nothing about it. In fact, their customer service department told me to check with Certegy, even after I showed the the letter from Certegy! One thing that can be done is filing a complaint on line with the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov.
There is a lawfirm that is considering a class action against Certegy. It is called Bell & Brigham. The website is http://www.belljames.com and the office’s phone number is 706-722-2014.
Here’s a link to a possible class actin lawsuit:
http://www.girardgibbs.com/certegy.html?gclid=CK6ewITW5o0CFR3PggodB1S
I ignored this letter, and chose to ignore it, thought it would be one of the regular phishing mails.
Until, now when I recieved couple of emails from Best Business Bureau stating that a company has filed a complaint on my behalf as I was a victim of ID theft.
When I called up my bank Chase, the fraud department told me that this is a hoax mail and and advised me to ignore this mail.
Also, I recieved the letter to an address that I used to work at aboutt a year back.
Strange!!! Details of this care is all over the internet. Or is it really hoax :(..
If this is true, I strongly opine that a legal proceeding should be taken, so that companies dealing with personal information pull up their socks and get a rigid security system in place.
This is so real folks! I called the Attorney Gnerals’ office and confirmed. Anyone who had thier information stolen and brokered MUST contact thier banks and start protecting themselves! Though privacy seems to be extinct, there are layers of it that are still there, and that includes things like your social security number, your birthday, and the full account numbers on your credit cards and checking accounts!
I am going to sue Certegy, and William Sullivan the thief, and the Marketing firms who bought the info too.I just need to find a lawyer.Anybody else want in?
I just received mine yesterday 11/10/2007 and my bank never heard anything about it either?
Yes i want in on sueing them idiots and who ever else is involved.
i got one of their letters as well.due to there data breachand other pit falls my profile and my identaty was stolen and i had to file bankruptsy chapter 7. and certegy still says i owe on checks i did not write .and they wont erase the file or remove me from it even after the federal court told them to clear my name .
My husband and I also received a letter from Certegy. We have had a horrible mess. One of the credit card companies that have been terrible is Capital One. We are going for a third court hearing in March 2009. We thought we had done everything right, but guess what, they were terrible to work with, I have probably been on the phone with them at least 100+ hours trying to straighten things out. Every person I talked to gave me different answers. Because of them our credit score has dropped over 200+ points. We have been married 33 years and always had next to perfect credit, they have ruined our good name. Thanks to Certegy and Capital One. We are presently working with an attorney. Anyone who has suffered a lose like ours deserves a settlement of several thousands od dollars. What crooks we have dealing with our private matters. I just hope they are made accountable by the law and suffer a huge monetary loose. If we had done something 100x smaller than they have done we would have to pay the price in a big way. I’m tired of the middle class honest person being taken advanage of. Times have been hard enough and then you have to deal with a mess like this. The honest hard working people are being raped over and over by these multimillion/trilion dollar companies and high paying CEO’s. I know so many others feel this way too. In cases such as these I guess its true when they say, MONEY TALKS!!!!!!
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