TAMPA, Fla. – A former database analyst for Fidelity National Information Services on Wednesday pleaded guilty to stealing confidential financial records of more than 8.4 million consumers from Fidelity’s Certegy Check Services unit and selling the consumer data to a broker.
“Sir, I shouldn’t have done it,” William Sullivan told the judge at the court hearing.
Sullivan quietly stole the data over five years and was paid $580,000 by the broker, who sold it to third-party marketers, prosecutors said. He has pledged to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a more lenient punishment when he is sentenced next year.
The stolen consumer information included each individual’s name, address and credit union or bank account information or credit/debit card information.
Certegy said it is confident the data was not used for identity theft purposes but for marketing. Consumers have filed a civil suit against the company, claiming they have been inundated by marketing solicitations because of the breach.
