Data Storage Bins Stolen from 3 Ohio Bank Branches

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Police in three Ohio cities are investigating the theft of three large storage bins from bank branches earlier this month. The storage bins were used to store paper waiting to be shredded. The most puzzling part of the theft is how the thief was able to remove the bins, which were reported to weigh more than 500 pounds each.

Three branches of the FirstMerit Bank in Streetsboro, Westlake and Elyria, OH each reported a bin missing beginning on October 7.

One of the three bins contained personal documents of bank customers, says FirstMerit spokesman Rob Townsend. He was uncertain which bin contained the customer documents.

Townsend says the bank is still working to identify how many customers may have had personal information in the bin. "We're still evaluating that," Townsend says. The bank has contacted the potentially compromised customers and is working with the police.

Townsend would not say what the bank's policies or procedures were for shredding documents. The locked bins were stored outside of each branch. Townsend says the bank is advising its customers to review their bank statements.