Incident: Subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada investigating theft of client information

CNN Money reports that RBC Dain Rauscher, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, is investigating a possible theft of personal information:

RBC Dain Rauscher says client information stolen - Sep. 27, 2005:

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - RBC Dain Rauscher, a unit of Royal Bank of Canada, said Tuesday it is investigating the possible theft of the identities of a small number of its customers.

According to the bank, a person claiming to be a former employee of RBC Dain Rauscher sent anonymous letters to some of its customers saying their personal information had been stolen.

RBC Dain Rauscher said it is working with local and federal authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and has hired an outside firm specializing in identity theft to probe the matter.

Identity theft by some estimates affects more than 9 million Americans each year.

MasterCard International in June said a security breach had exposed about 40 million credit cards to potential fraud.

RBC Dain Rauscher said it had set up a 24 hour-a-day hotline for customers who have received the suspicious letter. "