Wells Fargo Reports Data Breach

Wells Fargo & Co. has reported that the personal information of about 5,000 people may have been seen when someone used a bank access code illegally. The bank is notifying the people whose names are on the list and offering them free one-year membership to Identity Guard, an identity theft protection service.

Wells Fargo was alerted to suspicious activity in early July and contacted law enforcement immediately. It appears the illegal activity occurred in May and June. This is not the first time Wells Fargo has this type of breach. The company had two data breach incidents in 2006.

Whether or not this data breach has resulted in identity theft for any of the bank's customers remains to be seen. Wells Fargo has recommended that anyone affected should alert the credit bureaus and go over their accounts carefully to watch for suspicious activity. Those fearing identity theft because of this incident should monitor their credit reports or take advantage of the credit monitoring services offered by the bank.