US online brokerage Scottrade is warning customers that their personal financial details may have been compromised due to a security breach at its e-payments services provider Troy Group.
Scottrade has not disclosed how many of its 1.3 million customers had been affected, but it says the breach mainly affects clients who use its eCheck Secure service to transfer funds from their bank account to their online brokerage accounts.
California-based Troy Group reported on 25 October that a computer hacker had compromised its e-Check servers and that it had filed a report of the crime with the FBI.
In a letter to customers, Scottrade says as a result of the breach "some of your personal information, including your name, driver's licence or state ID number, date of birth, phone number, bank name, bank code, bank number, bank routing number, bank account number and Scottrade account number may have been compromised".
Scottrade says it is strongly urging customers who use their social security number as their driver's licence or state ID card number to place a fraud alert on their credit file.
Last month Scottrade said it was implementing two-way two-factor authentication technology from California-based PassMark Security in a bid to protect its customers from Internet fraud and ID theft.