BMO customer hit by data breach unhappy with bank's lack of answers

A Halifax-area man whose personal information with the Bank of Montreal was improperly accessed says he hasn't gotten a clear answer from the financial institutionon when the privacy breach occurred or how many customers were affected.

John Zinck of Bedford recently received a letter from BMO, dated Aug. 16, saying that a third party had gained access to his personal information, which may have includedhis name, contact details, debit card account information and security login information.

As he read the letter, Zinck who'stwice had a credit card stolen and used to rack up charges had a sinking feeling.

"This isn't going to be good," he said. "It's going to be a lot of headaches just to get things fixed."

Looking for a straight answer

Zincksaid he's been trying to get a clearer understanding of what happened but BMOhas been giving him inconsistent answers.

BMOdid not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Zinck said he'sbeen told byofficialsincluding his local branchmanagerthat thebreach happened in May, while another official said it was in June. Another said the breach happened recently, which is why he just received a letter.

In late May,BMOand CIBC-owned SimpliiFinancial warned that hackers had accessed the personal and account information of about 90,000 customers.

Zinck said he's been told he was one of 50,000 customers impactedby the breach, which corresponds withthe number of BMO customers whose information was hacked inMay. However, Zinckwas also told he was part of amuch smaller group just 100 customers whose data was accessed.

"How many data breaches are they actually having?" saidZinck.

BMOofficials told Zinck the breach happened after hackersaccessed his online banking information. But Zinck said he doesn't use online banking and never signed up for it.

He said the bank has offered to cover any losses stemming from the breach, as well as free credit monitoring for two years.

Stolen credit cards

Adding to his frustration is the fact thatZinck has dealt with banking-related breaches of privacy on two other occasions.

While working as an English teacherin Czechoslovakia in 1990, Zinck'scredit card was stolen and while he cancelled it, a fraudster later used it to ring up bills.

"They seemed to like the fine life," said Zinck.

The second incident happened in 1996 whenZinck's belongings were stolen during his honeymoon in Florida.

Hecancelled his credit cards and everything appeared fine until MasterCardcalled about eight months later, asking if Zinckwas trying to rent eight cars in Miami.

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