A Fidelity data breach resulted in the loss of 77,000 customers' personal information

Another breach against a major financial institution has resulted in the personal information of thousands of customers becoming public. reported that an unknown hacker obtained the personal information of 77,009 customers from asset management company Fidelity Investments.

The study published yesterday revealed that the unidentified third party obtained the information through two fake customer accounts in mid-August. It is not yet known how these accounts were used to access customer data. Fidelity said in a letter to its customers that it discovered the breach on August 19. The letter also said that the unidentified party did not access customers' Fidelity accounts, but after Fidelity completed its review, it confirmed that customers' personal information had been breached.

filed a second data breach notification yesterday revealing another “data security incident” involving Fidelity Investments' customer data. The notice states that the unauthorized third party gained access to “an internal database containing images of Fidelity customer documents” by submitting bogus access requests, also on August 19. The second data breach did not allow unwanted access to customer accounts or funds, and the leaked information “only affected a small portion of Fidelity’s customers.”

If you believe your information has been obtained by unwanted parties or is part of a data breach, the Federal Trade Commission recommends freezing and placing fraud alerts on your credit reports and personal bank and credit card accounts. You can also report identity theft incidents by calling or calling 1-877-438-4338.