14 DAY TRIAL // Payday loan firm Wonga suffered a data breach that may have affected up to 245,000 British customers, as well as another 25,000 Polish customers.
The company announced that it was "urgently investigating illegal and unauthorized access to the personal data of some of its customers." The data hackers got their hands on includes names, addresses, phone numbers, bank account numbers and sort codes.
The breach was discovered early last week, but it was originally thought that no data was stolen. By Friday, the company realized the magnitude of the breach and started informing customers.
Wonga already started contacting customers this past weekend and has set up a special phone line to handle those looking for support and details.
It is believed that this is one of the biggest data breaches in the United Kingdom involving financial information. The situation is rather delicate for all affected individuals due to the fact that the hackers are believed to have gotten away with the last four digits of customers' bank cards. This information is used by some financial institutions as part of the login process for online accounts.
"We are working closely with authorities, and we are in the process of informing affected customers. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused," Wonga said in a statement.
Customers need to be alert
While the company doesn't believe the hackers managed to gain access to the users' loan accounts, they advise everyone to be vigilant.
Wonga customers are further advised to alert their banks and ask them to look out for any suspicious activity, watch out for scammers, calls and emails asking for personal information.
Data breaches where financial details are involved are rather rare compared to the number of incidents where people's credentials for various sites are stolen, alongside email addresses and passwords. It is unclear at this point whether or not Wonga had customers' banking details encrypted or not.