Data Loss Source: Wells Fargo is notifying customers that hackers have accessed their confidential personal data by illegally using its access codes.
Date of Loss: August 11, 2008
Size of Loss : 7,000
Affected Individuals: Wells Fargo customers
Geographic Focus: Minneapolis, MN
Data contained: Personal information including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and in some cases, credit account information was accessed by “unauthorized persons”.
Additional Notes: The bank learned of the compromise on July 1 when MicroBilt, a reseller of consumer data, notified it of suspicious transactions made using the Wells Fargo access codes, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based bank said Monday. The codes are used by Wells Fargo employees to gain access to consumer credit data.
Additional Information: Network World

According to the Sacramento Bee, six Bay Area women were arrested for allegedly using stolen credit cards to buy more than $1 million of merchandise from malls between Sacramento and San Francisco have been arrested by the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force.

Officials say that the women were members of a theft and credit card fraud ring that operates around the world. They have identified more than 400 victim account holders in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The six women, between the ages of 21 and 37, all have connections to the city of Richmond. Combined, they face more than 180 charges of identity theft and fraud. Three have pleaded guilty and are facing four to eight years in prison. The other three are awaiting trial.

The ring is still under investigation. Officials believe it has a dozen more members.

Data Loss Source: The Division of Motor Vehicles put 3.4 million Coloradans at risk of identity theft due to flaws in the way driver’s-license information is handled.
Date of Loss: July 10, 2008
Size of Loss : 3.4 million
Affected Individuals: Colorado residents
Geographic Focus: Colorado
Data contained: At one point, 33 former DMV employees could access names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers — some workers more than a year after their departure
Additional Notes: The division has a long-standing policy of redacting the last four digits of Social Security numbers before they’re transmitted, and the division plans to encrypt all transmitted information by June 2009.
Additional Information: Denver Post

Data Loss Source: Burglars stole personal files from Crosslines Ministries of Carthage, a food and clothing bank for low-income families.
Date of Loss: February 15, 2008
Size of Loss : 2,000
Affected Individuals: Families
Geographic Focus: Carthage, MO
Data contained: Files contained the names, ages and social security numbers of close to 2,000 individuals who have used Crosslines Services.
Additional Notes: Police are urging anyone who has been a customer of Crosslines to contact their bank and the three credit bureaus, as well as be on the lookout for fraud.
Additional Information: KOAM TV

Data Loss Source: The state of Massachusetts is warning 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage insurance program that their personal information may have been stolen by an identity thief.
Date of Loss: Dec. 15, 2007
Size of Loss: 150,000
Affected Individuals: Members of state Prescription Advantage insurance program
Geographic Focus: Massachusetts
Data contained: Personal information
Additional Notes: Although the thief used information from just a small number of participants in the scheme, state data-breach laws require that the 150,000 people who could have possibly been affected by the breach be contacted.
Additional Information: IDG News