On Sunday and Monday, customers of both BMO and Simplii Financial were alerted by an uneasy notification. Specifically, Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial, which is CIBC’s direct banking line, announced on Sunday and Monday that fraudsters had accessed a number of its customer’s accounts. Not the best way to enter the week, right?
BMO and Simplii Financial Breach
The alert from BMO came on Sunday, in which the Canadian bank stated that both the financial and personal information of some of its customers had been accessed — illegally. There’s not a lot of detail regarding the fraudsters right now, but Bank of Montreal did state that its team believes the attack came from outside of Canada. Reportedly, BMO is reaching out to its clients, and asking them to get in touch if they have experienced any unusual activity on their accounts.
As for Simplii, the direct banking brand had previously announced that fraudsters may have accessed data from its client’s accounts. Specifically, these criminals may have electronically accessed roughly 40,000 client accounts. This news was out in the open, but then, on Monday, a message popped up on the Simplii mobile app. It wasn’t a good notification, either. The message sent to Simplii customers on Monday stated that fraudsters may be reaching out, sending messages requesting personal information. Do not respond to these emails if you get one.
The Takeaway
If you have involvement with either institution, it’s best that you check your account for suspicious activity. And while there is no indication that those with a CIBC account have been affected, customers may want to keep a close eye on their accounts over the next couple days. If you’re involved with Simplii Financial, know that the bank said its customers will be compensated. More specifically, customers who are victims of fraud as a result of this issue will be given 100% of the amount of money lost.
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