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Fears of ID theft as hackers steal banking details

An estimated 5,000 customers of a US banking group are under threat of falling victim to ID theft following the theft of their confidential data by cyber crooks.

Customers of Wells Fargo, which is based in San Francisco, are now being contacted by the institution to notify them of the goings on, according to computerweekly.com.

"Wells Fargo Bank, NA, has been advised by a reseller of consumer data, including consumer credit bureau data, of suspicious transactions made using Wells Fargo access codes," part of the letter says.

"Our investigation confirmed that a significant number of unauthorized transactions had been made using Wells Fargo's codes."

The letter went on to say the company did not know how its codes were compromised and stated that the Secret Service had been notified and was already investigating the matter.

As a precautionary measure, the company has urged its customers to check all their bank accounts including those not with the institution.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, 30 per cent of all ID theft scams happen to people of college-age.

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