Shares in Capital One Financial fell six per cent on Wall Street this morning on news of a data breach that compromised the personal information of about 106-million people.
That includes six-million Canadians.
Capital One provides Mastercard credit cards for Costco Wholesale’s Canadian retail network and says about one-million social insurance numbers were compromised.
The data breach also affected about 100-million American customers, making this one of the largest security breaches of a major U-S financial institution in history
A Seattle woman is facing a single count of computer fraud and abuse.
Paige A. Thompson, who uses the online handle “erratic” _ was charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Thompson made an initial appearance in court and was ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing Thursday.
Capital One said it believes it is unlikely that the information was used for fraud, but it will continue to investigate.
There are things you can do if you think your data may have been compromised:
First — try to determine if your data has been stolen or used by hackers.
Capital One says it will notify affected customers through a variety of ways, but doesn’t specify how.
But it does stress it won’t be calling individuals about it so be wary of any calls about the breach.
Also be on guard for emails about it that ask for information or contain links to websites.
While waiting for word from Capital One, you should check your financial accounts for any unusual activity, and consider signing up for alerts to track activity in your financial accounts.
If you notice any suspicious activity, the Canadian government recommends you immediately report it to the police, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and inform Service Canada.
You should also report the activity to your bank and creditors by phone and in writing.
You should also sign up for monitoring services from Equifax and TransUnion, which Capital One says it will provide for free to everyone affected.
Capital One says no credit card numbers were compromised in the breach, but you could consider asking for a new card and number, or even close your account.
The federal government, however, does not issue new social insurance numbers if they’re lost or stolen.
It may issue a new SIN if there is proof that it was used fraudulently.
With files from Canadian Press and Associated Press
CHEK News
