Bank letters warn of danger of ID theft

By Doug Warner, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- More than 12 million people received a letter telling them their credit history could be at risk. Some thought it was a scam, but Oklahomans should heed the warning, bankers said.

Thousands of Oklahomans recently received a letter from the Bank of New York Mellon stating "computer tapes containing some of (our) your personal information were lost" in February 2008.

I've been hearing about it since February of '08 because I've had people call us," said Elaine Dodd with the Oklahoma Bankers Association. "They're concerned when they get the letter that someone is trying to scam them."

To the skeptic a letter from an out-of-state bank offering two years of free credit monitoring to make up for its breach of security, may seem too good to be true.  But a company spokesman said it's not.

"We're providing them a number of fraud protection measures because we think it's the right thing for us to do," spokesman Ron Sommer said.

Sommer said Oklahomans affiliation with the New York Bank could be through a stock employee plan, a dividend check you're receiving, or business with your insurance company through your current job or a job you haven't had in years.

Sommer said they haven't been made aware of anyone's credit being comprised by this incident.

For more information visit http://www.bnymellon.com/tapequery/shareownerservices.html.