UPS and Citibank

[Raiders Army]

I'm glad I use FEDEX and USAA.

Citi notifies 3.9 million customers of lost data
Computer tapes with personal information lost in transit

Updated: 6:54 p.m. ET June 6, 2005

NEW YORK - CitiFinancial, the consumer finance division of Citigroup Inc., said Monday it has begun notifying some 3.9 million U.S. customers that computer tapes containing their personal data had been lost.

New York-based Citigroup said the tapes were in a box shipped in May via UPS Inc. from a Citigroup facility in Weehawken, N.J. to an Experian credit bureau facility in Allen, Texas. Data on the tapes included account information, payment histories and Social Security numbers.

The data involved only information on consumers who had taken out loans with Citibank, such as personal loans or debt consolidation loans, according to the firm. Savings and checking account customers were not impacted, the firm said.

Most of the impacted consumers are current Citibank loan customers, but about 55,000 of the records on the tape involved consumers with closed accounts, a Citibank spokesman said. The firm said customers of its CitiFinancial Auto, CitiFinancial Mortgage or other Citigroup businesses were not impacted.

In a statement, Citigroup said that CitiFinancial “had no reason to believe that this information has been used inappropriately, nor has it received any reports of unauthorized activity.”

Norman Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS, confirmed that the tapes were missing.
“Despite an exhaustive search for this package, we’ve been unable to find it,” Black said.

Citigroup's announcement came just as the nation's top security experts gathered in Washington D.C. for an annual conference sponsored by research firm Gartner. Experts expressed surprise and dismay at the news.

"This is really inexcusable," said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. "This is security 101. This shows just how out of control all this data is."

The announcement was just the latest in a series of data losses or breaches that have forced financial institutions and other data collectors to warn customers that their personal information may be at risk.

Last month, Time Warner Inc. said that computer backup tapes containing data on 600,000 current and former employees were lost by an outside data storage firm. Also in May, more than 100,000 customers of Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp., both headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., were notified that their financial records may have been stolen by bank employees and sold to collection agencies. Police officials say nearly 700,000 customers of four banks may be affected in all. And in April, online discount broker Ameritrade Holding Corp. said it had informed some 200,000 current and former customers that a backup computer tape with personal information had been lost.

Kevin Kessinger, executive vice president of Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group and president of Consumer Finance North America, told The Associated Press that the tapes left CitiFinancial on May 2 and were discovered missing on May 20. Senior managers were notified May 24. The Secret Service was told of the loss of the tapes on May 27 and began investigating.

Kessinger said the bank’s letter encouraged consumers to review activity on all their accounts to make sure nothing suspicious was occurring. He said CitiFinancial also was arranging for all affected customers to sign up free of charge with a credit monitoring service for 90 days. And, he said, if a customer is victimized, they will get free help from Citigroup’s Identity Theft resolution service.

Customers who are concerned about identity theft should visit the local CitiFinancial branch, or call 866-452-2484.

“Clearly we regret that this happened with our customers,” Kessinger said. “We’re trying to be upfront — to communicate and to talk about what the issues are.”

Gartner's Litan said consumers deserve more than 90 days worth of the service, however, since many identity thieves squirrel away stolen data for months before using it.

"This is a mediocre response, they are throwing people a bone," she said. "Three to five years would have been more meaningful."

[jeff061]

Why the hell would they ship something like that using UPS or anything like it. There must be options out there for more important shipments, right?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jeff -- you could go with a private courier, but that's got at least some risk of its own, since you never really know who is actually traveling with the package.

I'm not so sure that there's a better option than simply having a company employee who already has access to the data act as the courier.

[miked]

How come it seems as if every week, some company is losing people's personal info in some way or shape. Aren't these businesses being held accountable?

[mhass]

Originally Posted by miked

How come it seems as if every week, some company is losing people's personal info in some way or shape. Aren't these businesses being held accountable?

In the marketplace, yes they are. Bank of America lost something like 5,000 customers after their breach.

[miked]

Originally Posted by mhass

In the marketplace, yes they are. Bank of America lost something like 5,000 customers after their breach.

Well, what's their liability legally. If they lose my info and somebody racks up a $10,000 debt in my name are they liable? Can you sue them for putting your personal info out there?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by miked

Well, what's their liability legally. If they lose my info and somebody racks up a $10,000 debt in my name are they liable? Can you sue them for putting your personal info out there?

If you could prove that their neglegence caused that direct action, probably. But it would be hard to prove.

[tripps04]

My ? is you say Citi Bank lost those data tapes. I think if you read the article it states that UPS doesn't have a clue where they are. The worst part is that UPS didn't even notify anyone that they were missing. Wierd, I spent all day answering question from people with checking accts and credit cards, getting all worried about it. If the news would have stated more than one time in their story that it was Citi Financial and not Citi Group then a ton of people would not have been so upset. Sorry for the rant but been a tough day since 06:01 a.m. answering this stuff.

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

If you could prove that their neglegence caused that direct action, probably. But it would be hard to prove.

And it certainly could happen, but usually there is a substantial delay in bringing these actions. Generally, lawyers will look to form a "class" of plaintiffs that have all been screwed. Taking each case piecemeal isn't really worth anyone's time. However, if you can get a class, damages increase, and you can start to explore the wonderful world of punitive damages.

edit: disclosure - I'm a long time Citibank customer and am probably totally screwed right now. Oh well.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Why the hell would they ship something like that using UPS or anything like it. There must be options out there for more important shipments, right?

I dunno - we always ship important stuff next day or what not with UPS/Fed Ex/DHL , because they can do more efficiently and cheaply than we can. Admittedly, Citigroup is far larger than us, but there have been plenty of sensitive documents sent like this by many . Remember, the chances of UPS losing a package, on average, are about 1 in 100,000 or some ridiculous figure like that.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

I dunno - we always ship important stuff next day or what not with UPS/Fed Ex/DHL , because they can do more efficiently and cheaply than we can. Admittedly, Citigroup is far larger than us, but there have been plenty of sensitive documents sent like this by many . Remember, the chances of UPS losing a package, on average, are about 1 in 100,000 or some ridiculous figure like that.

Just like the chances of someone dying from getting tazed.

[Bad-example]

More proof that when you have a chunk of sensitive data that needs to be transported, you need to call Johnny Mnemonic!

[Rizon]

If I were to list the best banks, I'd probably rank Citibank just behind the 8 year old kid sitting on the street corner with a plastic piggy bank.

[clintl]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Remember, the chances of UPS losing a package, on average, are about 1 in 100,000 or some ridiculous figure like that.

1 in 100,000 is a lot of packages lost every day. I hope UPS is a lot better than that.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

See what Brown can do for you! This is great advertising for UPS. Doh!

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I'm glad I use FEDEX and USAA.

hey fellow USAA member. is USAA the greatest insurance company in the world, or what?

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Pyser

hey fellow USAA member. is USAA the greatest insurance company in the world, or what?

For real. I have car insurance (yes, I get money back at Christmas) and renter's insurance through them. They hooked me in with a $15,000 loan at 1.5% interest back in 1994 and I've never looked back.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

For real. I have car insurance (yes, I get money back at Christmas) and renter's insurance through them. They hooked me in with a $15,000 loan at 1.5% interest back in 1994 and I've never looked back.

theyll even help you buy flowers! i love them. i dont think ive ever heard anyone else say they love their insurance company