Tampa, FL: (Mar-16-08) A class action lawsuit was brought against Certegy Check Services Inc., alleging that personal data belonging to 8.5 million people was compromised by an insider theft that the company disclosed in July 2007. Court documents reveal that Certegy, a check-processing company that is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services Inc., voluntarily disclosed that a rogue database administrator had illegally accessed and sold personal data of about 2.3 million consumers to data brokers. Following the initial filing, the company then increased the number to 8.5 million.
Sources stated that the company has offered to resolve the class action suit by paying qualifying members of the plaintiffs class one year's worth of free credit monitoring services and $10,000 worth of identity theft insurance coverage. The settlement will not include residents of New York, as the third-party credit monitoring firm being used by Certegy doesn't offer the insurance coverage. Company officials said that the settlement would also provide up to two year's worth of free bank account monitoring services for individuals whose banking information may have been compromised in the incident. As of now the company has set aside up to $1 million to reimburse consumers for expenses they might have incurred as a result of the breach. Certegy said it has capped the total amount of money it will pay for identity theft claims to $4 million. The money will be disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis. [
