Lost ABN AMRO data has been recovered

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group said Wednesday that a computer tape containing data of approximately 2 million residential mortgage customers that was lost in transit has been recovered.

“The ABN AMRO Mortgage Group computer tape containing information on approximately 2 million residential mortgage customers was located and returned to the company’s Chicago data processing center from the same DHL facility from which it was lost on November 18,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Even though the tape was recovered on Monday, Dec. 19, the company will continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the recovery of the tape with DHL because of the time period the tape was presumed lost, the company, a subsidiary of LaSalle Bank Corp., said.

The company has been informed by DHL that the package was found without the original airbill, ABN AMRO said.

“Based on our investigation, we understand that DHL staff opened the package, found the return address on the tape, and repackaged the tape with a new airbill addressed to ABN AMRO Mortgage Group,” the statement said.

The company notified law enforcement and the appropriate regulatory agencies regarding the recovery of the tape. The law enforcement authorities are not pursuing action at this time, ABN AMRO said. The company continues to check for unusual activity suggesting misuse and none has been seen.

“We are pleased that the tape has been located and returned to us,” said Thomas Goldstein, ABN AMRO Mortgage Group’s CEO. “We certainly regret the concern this has caused our customers.

“Although we have no reason to believe that the tape was compromised, we feel it is always a good practice for consumers to monitor their credit activity on a regular basis and we continue to encourage customers who received written notification of this incident to sign up for the free credit monitoring service we have arranged,” Goldstein said.