Last week, US authorities arrested three people who worked in the human resources department of the American company Home Depot, which is the largest home improvement group in the world and is based in Atlanta.
The three employees, who have been released on bail pending trial, are accused of stealing personal information from their colleagues and using it to illegally issue credit cards.
Home Depot officials said the illegal activities were uncovered after the company's security department discovered an email sent from the account of one of the perpetrators containing information for more than 300 employees. The incident was reported to the U.S. Secret Service.
The email included Social Security numbers and dates of birth. The company said that in total, the personal information of 10,000 to 20,000 employees may have been exposed.
Home Depot customers, however, are not affected, as human resources employees do not have access to customer information.
