A woman has been arrested in connection with a data breach at credit card firm Capital One affecting approximately 106 million people.

Paige Thompson, 33, was arrested by the FBI in Seattle on Monday on suspicion of computer fraud and abuse.

The former Amazon employee is accused of stealing customer data from a server which Capital One was using to handle customer credit applications.

Image: Paige Thompson's Twitter account, according to the indictment

Customer names, physical and email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth were among the data that the hacker downloaded, as were credit scores.

However no credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were accessed, the company added.


The data breach is believed to have affected approximately 100 million customers in the US and six million more in Canada.

Free credit monitoring services will be offered to those affected.

According to the indictment, Thompson operated a Twitter account with the username "Erratic" from which she is alleged to have threatened to disseminate the stolen material.

Capital One stated: "Based on our analysis to date, we believe it is unlikely that the information was used for fraud or disseminated by this individual."

The firm's chairman and chief executive Richard Fairbank said: "While I am grateful that the perpetrator has been caught, I am deeply sorry for what has happened.

"I sincerely apologise for the understandable worry this incident must be causing those affected and I am committed to making it right."