Research into a fake bank account scandal suggests that thousands of bank accounts have been opened at a range of banks without a customers’ consent.

In recent years, it was revealed that Wells Fargo employees had been opening up fake accounts in their customers’ names in an effort to hit ambitious sales goals and earn sales bonuses. This fake bank account scandal has prompted the Comptroller of the Currency, the nation’s top bank regulator, to investigate if the problem may be larger than Wells Fargo.

Unfortunately, this may be the case. In July, Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, who heads the Office of the Comptroller, told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that as many as 20,000 fake bank accounts may have associated with authorization problems across institutions in the financial industry, and that almost half of them may have been opened without authorization from a customer.

However, Otting declined to name which banks had been investigated and were associated with fraudulent accounts. According to Otting, the information his office had gained during its reattach were private.

The Office of the Comptroller (OCC) reportedly reviewed over 40 financial institutions. Earlier information given by the office indicated that the office would be investigating federally chartered banks with assets of $10 billion or more. By that criterion, this list would include national banks like JP Morgan and Chase and Bank of America. It would also include smaller, but still substantial banks like Los Angeles’ City National Bank and other comparable institutions in the mid-sized or regional range.

The research took stock of the over 500 million accounts opened across the 40 banks in the last three years.

Otting did not say which institutions were investigated, nor did he divulge his office’s research methods. He would not elaborate on how the review of the banks was conducted.

This information, or lack thereof, has left many banking customers worried about their security, and wondering if their bank may be among the institutions possibly taking advantage of customers and opening a fake bank account in their name.

Bank analyst Bert Ely told the Los Angeles Times the number of suspicious accounts was “surprisingly low,” supporting the OCC’s claim that the agency “did not find pervasive or systemic issues,” related to the opening of fake accounts.

This assessment may come as cold comfort to the thousands of customers who have already had their security and trust breached by Wells Fargo. Thousands of other customers may have been affected by the problem, as the problem may indeed be more widespread.

Now, lawyers are launching an investigation into the fake bank account scandal and looking for people who bank with institutions like Capital One and who may have had a fake bank account opened in their name. If you have had a fake bank account opened in your name, you may have a legal claim and may be able to receive compensation for the injury done to you by your financial institution.

If you think you may have had a fake bank account opened but are not sure, you may still have a legal claim. Part of what makes the fake bank account scandal so serious is that these fake accounts were opened without a customer’s consent or knowledge. An experienced lawyer can help determine if you may have a claim.