Thieves who broke into a branch of California Credit Union here made off with a computer hard drive that contains significant member data.
The 49,000-member California CU has sent a letter to members alerting them to the theft of data that includes names, and Social Security numbers. No member PINs or passwords were stolen.
In the letter the credit union informed members of steps it has taken to further protect affected members, including plans to confirm members' identities during visits to CCU, paying for a one-year membership for each member in a credit monitoring service, and alerting the credit reporting agencies of the theft and having an alert placed on their accounts for 180 days. California CU has also established a hotline to field calls.
The thieves ransacked two offices, in addition to stealing the computer data. Glendale Police have investigated and obtained fingerprints. The U.S. Secret Service has been designated as the investigating agency. There have been no arrests, and in a statement to The Credit Union Journal, California CU reported that to date there was no indication that any of the data had been used fraudulantly.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the cost of just the credit monitoring service alone could cost California Credit Union as much as $520,000. Moreover, CCU CFO Steve O'Connell said that credit union management are among those whose information was stolen.
