Fifth Third Bancorp provided an update on its investigation into a small number of former employees in Cincinnati who accessed and misused some customers' personal information, clarifying that the event was not a cybersecurity data breach.
“Last week we reached out to customers whose personal information was manually accessed by a small number of former employees and may have been shared with people outside of the bank as part of a fraud ring,” the bank stated. “To be clear, this was not a cybersecurity data breach event, but rather an orchestrated effort by a small group of employees to steal personal information.”
It noted that it confirmed that 100 customers experienced known fraud. Out of caution, all customers whose data potentially may have been accessed by these individuals are being contacted.
"Our primary concern, as always, is for the protection of our customers' assets and sensitive information,” the bank stated. “We are taking immediate steps to strengthen these protective measures. Any Fifth Third customer who experiences a direct financial loss will be reimbursed, and we are offering free identity dlert for one year to any individual whose information was potentially accessed.
“During the course of the investigation, we have terminated those employees who were known to be involved in the fraud. Because this is an active investigation, we are limited in the information that we can share. We are cooperating fully with authorities in the investigation of this matter and we look forward to seeing justice served."