Billion-dollar bank reveals customers’ full names, account numbers, birth dates and more in “foreseeable and avoidable” data theft: class action lawsuit alleges

A class action lawsuit is set to be filed against a North Carolina bank over a data breach that allegedly left its customers at serious risk of fraud and identity theft.

The plaintiff accuses Truist Bank of failing to adequately secure and protect its customers’ sensitive information following a security incident that exposed account holders’ confidential data.

A few weeks ago, Truist Bank confirmed that its security systems had been compromised in October after a notorious hacker claimed the bank would sell bank data, including the names of 65,000 account holders, bank account numbers, transaction histories and account balances, for a fee of one million dollars.

The bank said that an unspecified but limited number of customers were affected.

The lawsuit accuses Truist Bank of negligence because the attack was “foreseeable and preventable.” It also claims that the bank “intentionally, willfully and recklessly” failed to take reasonable steps to protect its systems from unauthorized access.

“The defendant could have prevented this data breach by, among other things, properly encrypting or otherwise protecting its devices and computer files containing personally identifiable information (PII).”

The plaintiff says victims of the data theft are vulnerable to a range of financial crimes, including fraud and identity theft. They may also have to pay out-of-pocket costs for credit monitoring services and other defenses to protect their accounts from fraudsters.

The class action lawsuit seeks an injunction forcing the bank to comprehensively overhaul its cybersecurity program. The plaintiff also asks the court to order Truist Bank to pay punitive damages and litigation costs as permitted by law.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank, Truist Bank is the eighth largest commercial bank in the United States with consolidated assets of $526.714 billion.

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