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Records of 2.3 Million Consumers Stolen

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

July 3, 2007, 2:32 PM

The records of nearly 2.3 million consumers have been exposed including credit card, bank account, and other personal information after an employee of a Fidelity National Information Services subsidiary stole the information and then proceeded to sell it to a data broker. From there, it was sold to several direct marketing companies, although the data was not used for ID theft or fraudulent activity.

Of the records, 2.2 million contained bank account information and the remainder credit card numbers. To protect those affected, the company, Certegy Check Services Incorporated, asked a court to force the employee to return the information and order that the companies who bought the data stop using it. It has also begun the process of notifying those affected. The employee who stole the data has since been fired, Fidelity said.

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By TheRecklessWanderer

posted Jul 4, 2007 - 10:10 AM

I thought receiving stolen goods was a crime. Why aren't the data broker and the marketing companies being charged?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 5, 2007 - 9:18 AM

Knowingly receiving stolen goods is a crime. They'd likely have a hard time proving they knew it was stolen. Most of these companies don't even ask...so that they can claim they didn't.

Score: 0

By kbsoftware

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 6:21 PM

The employee should of been charged, and all the money he made he should loose it plus more.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 5, 2007 - 9:17 AM

How should he "loose" it? Cannon? Off the top of a skyscraper?

...or did you mean "lose"?

Score: 0

By ravemanson

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 4:18 PM

And i REALLY want Google to collect information about everything i do online so that someone can steal it and sell it. Corruption is everywhere.

Score: 0

By horsecharles

posted Jul 4, 2007 - 1:02 AM

Someone had to work their anti-Google rant in here.

Customer data drives capitalism--w/o it we're all in a third-world slum.

Individual theft is almost impossible to prevent-- if we worry so much, we won't trust our bankers, stores, ISP, etc... and will wind up living in some Jonestown/Waco/Ruby Ridge.

Score: 0

By ravemanson

edited Jul 4, 2007 - 6:19 AM

Actually i really like Google and all it's efforts, but my bank, store and ISP don't work together with organisations like the FBI. They have data warehouses of millions of internet users' searches and existing US law can force them to hand over all that info to the US government or any other government of a country. Guess how much swedes like the US government after they forced OUR government to close down the Pirate Bay, for example. I don't want anything i do to get into the hands of anyone or anyTHING within the borders of the USA.

Google already make billions by being the king of information; if their terms of storing Your personal habits on the internet were accepted that would make nothing but more money for them, while it had no use at all for regular people. The grip on the freedom of the internet would indirectly tighten further simply because some people are obcessed with money.

Google's wealth doesn't exactly affect me over here in Sweden.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 5, 2007 - 9:16 AM

They have data warehouses of millions of internet users' searches and existing US law can force them to hand over all that info to the US government or any other government of a country

Funny how the US already tried that and failed.

Funny how out of Google, MSN, and Yahoo, Google is the only search service not handing data over to China.

I'd really like to know how this meshes with your above statement in your mind. Must be a wild ride...

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 3:37 PM

The employee who stole the data has since been fired, Fidelity said.

Unless he has been fired out of a cannon into a lake of lye filled with lye-resistant sharks (with laser beams on their heads), and surrounded by bunnies (with big pointy teeth), it wasn't enough.

Score: 0

By ZenWarrior

posted Jul 5, 2007 - 2:02 PM

"Fired?" They should have set fire to him while he was still alive.

Yo! Quite the imagination there, Tool. :)

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 4:10 PM

Agree 100%.

Score: 0

By billweh

edited Jul 3, 2007 - 4:57 PM

I think we can all sleep peacefully now, knowing that he was fired.

That makes it all right.

Here's a blurb from FNIS's site:

Certegy is committed to a disciplined action plan designed to minimize the impact of the misappropriated consumer information, particularly to consumers.

Certegy has filed a civil complaint in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the former employee and the marketing companies believed to have received the misappropriated data, seeking retrieval of all consumer information as well as an injunction against any use.

Certegy has contacted the applicable marketing companies in order to obtain the return of all consumer information.

Certegy proactively engaged law enforcement and is encouraging immediate prosecution.

Certegy is in the process of making any required notifications to governing state regulatory agencies.

Certegy has alerted the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.

Certegy has notified Visa and MasterCard of the incident.

Certegy is establishing a procedure for financial institutions to obtain information about their customers’ accounts so that they can place the accounts on an active fraud watch.

Certegy will be personally notifying all affected consumers of this misappropriation and establishing a toll-free hotline to answer consumer questions.

Certegy has implemented a fraud watch on its internal systems for those checking accounts that are implicated.

Certegy continually reviews its security policies and is taking steps to help prevent future incidents.

Certegy continues to confirm that there was no financial or identity theft caused by this incident, only the improper use of information for telemarketing and mail solicitations.

Based on the investigation to date, Certegy does not expect that the costs to implement this action plan will materially impact financial results.

http://www.fidelityinfos...S/NewsRoom/20070703.htm

Score: 0

By horsecharles

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 6:51 PM

If somebody offered a reward / contract / bounty i would kill the son of putana disgraziata in an instant.... and the severed finger + ear one normally would bring back as proof woulda been severed 'before expiration.'

Score: 0

By Second Shadow

posted Jul 4, 2007 - 1:38 AM

You forgot to say "Pardon my Italian" .... :D

Score: 0

By horsecharles

edited Jul 4, 2007 - 3:56 AM

Scusi, Seconda Ombra!

Score: 0

By darkspyre0

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 3:32 PM

wow, human greed...... It's a powerful force =\

Score: 0

By c4p0ne

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 5:49 PM

You should see how powerful it is here in Greece.

Score: 0

By horsecharles

posted Jul 3, 2007 - 6:52 PM

Just kill all such malakas.

Score: 0