This January, Citibank sent out 600,000 mailers with their customers’ social security numbers printed on the outside of the envelope. Whoopsie!

Here’s their statement:

We regret that a processing error caused the nine digits of some customers’ Social Security numbers to be printed on an envelope we sent to them in late January via the U.S. Postal Service. The digits were not identified as a Social Security number, and they were printed at the lower edge of the mailing envelope with other numbers and letters that together resembled a mail routing number. We believe there is little or no risk to our customers. The error has been corrected for all future mailings.

Although there is little or no risk to our customers, we decided to be completely transparent to our customers by notifying them of the error. It is an important part of our commitment to our customers to be fully transparent and to give them the peace of mind that comes from banking with people they trust. Over several days, beginning early the week of the 15th, we sent notification letters to the customers involved, apologizing for the error and giving them the option of enrolling in a credit monitoring service at no cost to them.”

If this happened to you, should be getting this letter:

We are writing to inform you that due to a processing error the nine digits in your Social Security number, along with a string of other numbers and letters all resembling a mail routing number, were printed on the lower edge of an envelope containing a year-end tax statement that we mailed to you recently.

We believe there is little or no risk to you. However we wanted to bring this to your attention, apologize and confirm that changes have been made for all future mailings.

Should you nonetheless remain concerned, we have arranged for you at your option to enroll in a credit monitoring service at no cost to you for the next 180 days. To activate this coverage, please call the toll-free number or visit the website listed below and enter the redemption code. The redemption code is required for enrollment. As always, we encourage you to regularly review activity on your accounts.

For credit monitoring service coverage:
Toll-Free Number: 1-866-212-9114
Website: http://www.identityguard.com/alert

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Do not hesitate to contact us at 877-478-6597 if you have any questions.”

Citibank Exposes Personal Info On Envelopes [WBZ]
Citibank prints customer Social Security numbers on envelopes [Consumer Reports]

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