Bank of America’s wealth management division, Merrill, has accidentally exposed the personal information of 1,883 Walmart 401(k) plan participants.
Data Breach Details
An employee mistakenly emailed the first names, last names, and Social Security numbers of the individuals to an unauthorized recipient. Merrill has confirmed that the email has been deleted and there is no evidence of misuse of the data.
Previous Data Breaches
This incident follows recent data breaches at other major banks:
- Santander: Undisclosed information on employees and customers in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay was exposed.
- JPMorgan Chase: A software bug allowed unauthorized access to retirement plan records of over 450,000 customers.
Recommendations for Affected Individuals
Merrill advises affected customers to:
- Monitor their credit reports and account statements for suspicious activity.
- Consider enrolling in a two-year membership to Experian IdentityWorks for identity theft protection.
