The retirement benefits accounts of several municipal employees were breached recently. The breach was detected by the company managing the accounts. Some money was stolen from the accounts and the company returned it soon. The company has also intimated the account holders and federal authorities of the breach and an investigation has begun to pinpoint the source of the fraud.
The Breach of Retirement Benefits Accounts
The breach came to light when the employees working for Nationwide Retirement Solutions, the company that currently administers the accounts on behalf of the city noticed some suspicious activity. The suspicious activity was noticed at about 457 deferred compensation accounts that are meant for municipal employees. It is pertinent to add here that these accounts are very like the 401k accounts.
The suspicious activities were noticed on June 1, 2016, and when the matter was investigated, it was found that the accounts of 91 people were breached. Some money was withdrawn from around 58 of the breached accounts while 33 accounts remained as it is.
The Culprit
The culprit of the breach is unknown as of now. It is being believed that the culprit was a person or a group that apparently created a web profile to take a loan from a retirement account and accessed personal information by using illegal means. These points were highlighted by the officials involved in the investigation.
The Investigation
The investigation into the serious matter began when Nationwide learned of the breach and notified the federal authorities. The account holders were also intimated of the breach. Ryan Ankrom, who is serving as a spokesperson for Nationwide Retirement Solutions recently stated that the company is working in conjunction with the federal authorities and city officials in order to pinpoint the source of the breach. He also added that they think it’s a fraud at this point.
The Money
The total amount of money stolen from the accounts is not clear yet. Ankrom said that the company has returned the stolen amounts to each of the account holders within 5 days of the breach.
The Future Plan
Erin Keane who is serving as the acting city comptroller has also made a statement. He said that the company and the city are working together right now to ensure that the security of the deferred compensation accounts that are like the retirement benefits accounts is maintained.
