Robbins Report

Cape Codders involved in Bank of America computer data theft

Bank of America acknowledges computer theft of account information
Cape Cod Customers are included in stolen database

By Peter Robbins

After a day of leaving messages regarding the theft of a laptop computer from Bank of America some answers were finally obtained. A corporate representative began by telling this writer "we will get back to you as soon as I can find someone to return your call." Several other calls to the media relations department went unanswered, and one was even transfered to a representative who was on vacation. Leaving messages with all, collectively the message finally reached the top.

"We will get back to you as soon as I can find someone to return your call."

In June of this year a laptop computer was stolen from Bank of America containing names, account numbers and social security numbers of some account holders. Betty Reiss, a corporate spokesperson for corporate Bank of America confirmed the theft of the computer but was reluctant to comment on specifics.

The bank never issued any type of press release, but sent letters to customers they believed to be contained in the encrypted files on the laptop. Reiss would not comment where or from whom the computer was stolen. Additionally, no comment was offered on how the bank identified which account holders may be affected.

The July 30, 2008 letter from Thomas J. Cushing, Senior Vice President of Bank of America, in part stated,

"We are writing to you to inform you that a Bank of America laptop containing a limited amount of customer information was recently stolen.

"We are working with law enforcement authorities and have conducted our own internal investigations to protect you from any unauthorized use of your accounts."

The letter continued "... we will notify you if we detect any suspicious or unauthorized activity... we will work with you to resolve unauthorized transactions on your Bank of America accounts related to this incident if reported in a timely manner."

An earlier contact with a corporate representative stated, "It is still under investigation and cannot comment." Reiss did say, " I can't go into how it was determined but the number of accounts were very small."

The bank spokesperson would not disclose the amount of accounts, bank location of the theft, or whether it was an employee.  "We are monitoring accounts, and working with law enforcement, and have no evidence of accounts being accessed. "

The laptop had encryption software, and Bank of America is offering a complimentary credit monitoring service for a period of two years for those customers contained in the database on the stolen computer.

There were Cape customers contained in the database.