A letter from a bank saying you could be at risk for identity theft is legitimate. Millions of people, including many here in the Tri-State, are now getting letters telling them of the bank's loss of data containing their personal information.
A security breach at the Bank of New York Mellon now turns out to be three times bigger than initially reported. As a result, many people here in the Tri-State are among the 12 and a half million customers getting letters telling them of the loss of unencrypted computer back-up tapes. The tapes contain the names, addresses, birth dates and social security numbers of all these people.
The tapes went missing back in February-- yet many are just now being informed of security breach--which is one of the largest in U.S. history. The bank says there's no evidence the information on the tapes have been access or misused.
But, if you receive this notice, you should sign up for the 2 years of credit monitoring being offered free by the bank. It's important to keep an eye on your credit report to make sure there's no identity theft.
