Fidelity National alleges former employee of Certegy ‘misappropriated’ consumer information for use by direct marketing firms; keep your shredder handy
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has published an announcement about a former employee who allegedly sold data to a direct marketing organization. FNIS says the employee, a senior level database administrator, “removed the information from Certegy’s facility via physical processes, not electronic transmission.”
Certegy, based in St. Petersburg, is a subsidiary of Jacksonville-based FNIS. Certegy maintains records like bank account information for use in check authorization requests by merchants. In an announcement at the Certegy Web site, company president Renz Nichols said, “As a result of this apparent theft, the consumers affected received marketing solicitations from the companies that bought the data.”
Certegy hired a forensic investigator, and ultimately requested help from the U. S. Secret Service in figuring out what the employee had allegedly done.
The FNIS announcement says, “The misappropriated information included names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and bank account or credit card information.” The company says 2.3 million records “are believed to be at issue.”
Certegy filed a civil complaint in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the former employee and the marketing companies.
While the employee may not have intended to defraud customers, he or she certainly didn’t do the world any favors. Nobody needs more junk mail.
Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Shredder, Financial Services, Direct Marketing, Junk Mail, Personal Financial Information, Fraud
Leave a Reply