Laurentian Bank is currently investigating a password theft that could turn into a personal information leak.
Management is concerned that “unauthorized persons” obtained personal information associated with the bank’s customer accounts between April 28 and August 2.
The bank says the “problem” has been reported to the police and “appropriate” regulatory authorities.
“This summer, the bank learned that unauthorized people had attempted to access the online bank accounts of a few customers. They succeeded in obtaining the passwords of 24 customers, they were all contacted by the bank, ”said Laurentian Bank spokesperson Merick Seguin.
“In addition to the 24 clients who have been confirmed to be affected, we have contacted several other of our clients out of caution to inform them of the situation,” he adds.
“At this time, there is no information to lead us to believe that personal information has been compromised outside the bank. “
In a communication to its customers informed of the incident, the management emphasizes that unauthorized persons could have obtained the following data: name, address of residence, postal code, email address, telephone number, date of birth, number of social insurance, mother’s maiden name, LBCDirect access code, bank account numbers, names of products held at the bank, balance and transaction history of bank accounts, as well as Visa credit card numbers .
Management says it has changed the security issues for customers’ bank accounts to prevent anyone from using fraudulently obtained personal information to access accounts.
The bank also claims to have started an investigation as soon as it became aware of the incident and is committed to promptly alerting those concerned of any potential problem affecting their personal information.
As a precaution, management says it has implemented additional authentication mechanisms for customer accounts in order to prevent unauthorized activity. Leaders nonetheless encourage customers to be vigilant.
An agreement with TransUnion, a firm specializing in credit reports, has been entered into by the bank to provide affected customers with a five-year subscription to the online credit monitoring service “myTrueIdentity” free of charge.
This service makes it possible in particular to receive alerts in the event of unauthorized activities having the effect of modifying the credit file (requests for a new card, requests for extension of credit, etc.).
The bank also offers its affected customers who hold a Laurentian Bank Visa credit card a new card upon request.