Fidelity reports data breach of 77k customers to Maine Attorney General

American Financial Services firm Fidelity Investments filed a data breach report involving access to personal information of 77,000 customers.

On October 9, Fidelity Investments filed a data breach notice with the Maine Attorney General’s Office. The crypto exchange-traded fund stated that the breach affected 77,099 of the total 51.5 million customers listed on the firm’s base.

An unnamed third party reportedly used two recently created customer accounts to access and obtain customers’ personal information without permission. The data breach occurred between August 17 and August 19.

Fidelity discovered the breach on August 19 and took steps to terminate the unauthorized access.

“An investigation was immediately launched with the assistance of external security experts. Information obtained by the third party relates to a small subset of our customers. Please note that this incident does not involve any access to your Fidelity accounts,” the company wrote in a letter to inform affected customers.

Fidelity also said it was working with “external security experts” to resolve the issue.

Additionally, the firm is offering affected customers a free 24-month credit monitoring and identity restoration service so they can be better equipped to help the company detect “any unusual activity that may impact your personal finances.”

“It’s always a good idea to stay alert for fraudulent activity or identity theft by regularly reviewing your statements for your financial and other accounts, monitoring your credit reports, and immediately reporting any suspicious activity to your financial institution,” the company added.

This is Fidelity’s fourth data breach in the past year, according to the statement. The financial services company has experience with three other data breaches that occurred on March 4, March 18, and July 19.

On March 27, Fidelity filed a form S-1 for a spot Ethereum ETF that includes staking. Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund has accumulated $9.8 billion in flows since its launch on January 11, 2024, according to data from Farside Investors.