BMO, CIBC: Hackers might have stolen records of 90,000 customers

BMO, CIBC’s Simplii issue warning about ‘fraudsters’

TORONTO — Two of Canada’s biggest banks warned Monday that “fraudsters” might have accessed certain personal and financial information of up to 90,000 customers.

The Bank of Montreal said hackers contacted the bank on Sunday claiming to be in possession of the personal information of fewer than 50,000 customers and threatened to make it public.

“We became aware of unverified claims that customer personal and financial data may have been accessed by a fraudster,” said spokesman Paul Gammal in an emailed statement Monday. “A threat was made. Our practice is not to make payments to fraudsters. We are focused on protecting and helping our customers.”

The bank said it believes the attack originated outside Canada, but did not elaborate on the type of data allegedly accessed.

Gammal said the bank is conducting a thorough investigation and is working with the relevant authorities.

The disclosure followed a warning from CIBC’s direct banking brand, Simplii Financial, that said “fraudsters” might have electronically accessed personal and account information for approximately 40,000 Simplii Financial clients.

Simplii said Monday it learned of the potential issue on Sunday and has implemented additional online security measures such as enhanced online fraud monitoring. It is also working with the relevant authorities.

Gammal said the potential breach at BMO appears to be related to the CIBC issue. Royal Bank, Scotiabank and TorontoDominion Bank said they have no indication they were affected.

Both BMO and CIBC said they will contact clients, and recommended that customers monitor their accounts and notify their financial institution about any suspicious activity.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has spoken to the chief executives of the affected institutions, ministry spokeswoman Jocelyn Sweet said.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Monday that both financial institutions have notified it about the issue.

“We are working with the organizations to better understand what occurred and what they are doing to mitigate the situation,” spokeswoman Valerie Lawton said in an email.