INDIANAPOLIS — Fifth Third bank and law enforcement are actively investigating after they say a “small number” of employees stole customer information and shared it with people outside of the bank.
The bank sent a notice to affected customers this week informing them the bank opened an internal investigation to determine the cause of suspected fraudulent transactions affecting certain customer accounts. The investigation led the bank to believe a small number of former employees may have misused certain customers sensitive information dating back to 2018.
The notice said information included names, addresses, phone numbers, mother’s maiden names, account numbers, social security numbers, and driver’s license information.
In a statement to WRTV Senior Public relations manager Laura Trujillo said, “There is an active investigation under way by the authorities relative to a recent theft of Bank information. Our own internal investigation led to a referral to law enforcement. At this time, customers impacted have been notified of this issue. Our primary concern, as always, is for the protection of our customers’ assets and personal information. We apologize for any inconvenience as we work to resolve this matter.”
The bank declined to comment on how many customers were impacted or how many employees were involved.
Fifth Third Bank is offering its identity fraud alert services free for a year to impacted customers. The bank also said customers who suffered financial loss have been reimbursed.
Trujillo also said, “Fifth Third is cooperating fully with authorities in the investigation of this matter and we look forward to seeing justice served. Incidents like this are rare. Nonetheless, we are reviewing our current preventative measures to determine how we might further increase their effectiveness.”
Full Fifth Third Bank statement:
"There is an active investigation under way by the authorities relative to a recent theft of Bank information. Our own internal investigation led to a referral to law enforcement.
At this time, customers impacted have been notified of this issue.
Our primary concern, as always, is for the protection of our customers’ assets and personal information. We apologize for any inconvenience as we work to resolve this matter.
Because this is an active investigation, we can only share the following:
Any Fifth Third customer who experienced a financial loss has been reimbursed.
According to the authorities, and based on our own internal investigation, we have terminated the employees involved in any wrongdoing.
The information was stolen by a small number of employees who provided it to people outside of the bank.
We have notified the limited number of customers who may be impacted. We will provide identity theft monitoring to them at no cost.
Fifth Third is cooperating fully with authorities in the investigation of this matter and we look forward to seeing justice served.
Incidents like this are rare. Nonetheless, we are reviewing our current preventative measures to determine how we might further increase their effectiveness."
