Wells Fargo Notifying 5,000 People of Stolen Access Code to Customer Data

The Associated Press says Wells Fargo & Co. is notifying some 5,000 people that their personal information might have been seen by someone using a bank access code illegally.

A bank spokeswoman said Tuesday that MicroBilt Corp., a consumer data vendor, told Wells Fargo on July 1 that there was unusual activity on one of the bank's access codes. The activity was particularly suspicious because Wells Fargo no longer uses that particular vendor for consumer information.

"We notified law enforcement right away," said Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Berg, adding that it appears that the unauthorized activity happened in May and June. "A full investigation is under way."

The bank is currently sending letters to the list of about 7,000 names, which will probably end up being 5,000 once the duplicates are eliminated. They are offering those individuals a free one-year membership to Identity Guard, an identity theft protection service.

The bank is also recommending that the individuals affected, most of which are not Wells Fargo customers, set up an alert with the credit bureaus and review their accounts for suspicious activity.

This breach is not the first for the San Francisco-based bank, which in 2006 experienced two separate data breach incidents.

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Take preventative steps to guard your identity. By doing so before you are notified your information was accessed through someone's database, you will lessen the impact if the information lands in the hands of thieves. If you think your information may have been compromised, see What Should I do?