WebProNews

Bank of America, Wachovia, PNC Financial, and Commerce Bankcorp were all victimized by thefts.

Expect the federal government to finally involve itself in requiring more stringent security standards of financial institutions.

New Jersey police have made nine arrests in a case involving bank employees stealing customer records, and selling them to collection agencies and law firms. Ultimately, hundreds of thousands of records may have been stolen.

A firm set up by the criminals called DRL Associates advertised itself as having access to bank account, balance, and employment history information. While about 40 firms bought information fro DRL, no attempts to use the information for identity theft have been reported.

Police have seized 13 computers from DRL and have found at least 200,000 to 300,000 breaches so far, according to a Reuters report. Authorities will next investigate the firms that purchased data from DRL.

Bank of America now has its second significant loss of personal data this year. In February, a set of backup tapes containing data on 1.2 million government employees vanished without a trace.

While federal investigators have joined New Jersey police on this matter, it is not yet clear which agencies have provided personnel to the investigation.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.