A Merrill Lynch employee's email error last month inadvertently resulted in a data breach affecting nearly 1,900 Walmart 401(k) plan participants, the firm told a regulator.
Merrill, recordkeeper for the Walmart 401(k) plan, informed affected current or past plan participants last week that their names and Social Security numbers had been disclosed and the email since deleted.
The incident affected 1,883 plan participants, Merrill parent Bank of America reported to the Maine attorney general's office.
"On April 16, 2024, a Merrill employee inadvertently disclosed personal information to an unauthorized recipient via an isolated email error. We became aware of this event on April 22, 2024," the report says.
