Citigroup said the affected accounts represent about 1% of its North American bank card customers. The company also noted that fraud protection covering unauthorized use should apply in such cases. Citi has about 21 million credit-card accounts.
The information that could have been accessed includes cardholders’ names, account numbers and email addresses, Citi said. But the hack didn’t affect the company’s debit cards or other personal customer information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates and security codes.
Citigroup said hackers have viewed some of its credit-card customers' account information in North America. Alison Tudor has details.
“During routine monitoring, we recently discovered unauthorized access to Citi’s Account Online,” the bank said in a statement. “For the security of these customers, we are not disclosing further details.”
The bank said it is in the process of contacting customers whose information was affected and that is it changing procedures to prevent the security breach from happening again.
The data breach occurred at a database that holds basic customer information like names, account numbers, and email addresses, but not social security numbers and card security codes.
Citi said it has contacted law enforcement officials about the breach, but did not say whether customers had reported suspicious transactions.
If the card itself is lost or stolen and customers report the loss before it’s used, the Fair Credit Billing Act says the card issuer cannot hold a customer responsible for any unauthorized charges. If a thief uses a card before the customer reports it missing, the most they will owe for unauthorized charges is $50 per card.
The FTC recommends customers review billing statements carefully. If they show any unauthorized charges, the FTC says, it’s best to write a letter to the card issuer describing each questionable charge and send the letter to the address provided for billing errors.
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