Wonga data breach could affect 245,000 UK customers

Payday loan company Wonga has warned 270,000 customers that their personal details could have been taken in a massive data breach.

According to The Guardian, the attack happened last week but it was not until Friday that the company realised the information "could be accessed externally".

Wonga began sending messages to customers on Saturday, advising them that a portion of bank card numbers and full bank account number and sort codes could have been accessed, along with personal details such as names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers.

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It is reported that attack could have hit 245,000 customers based in the UK and 25,000 in Poland.

Wonga has also set up a dedicated customer services phone line to deal with the issue and says it is working with the police, the Information Commissioner's Office and the City regulator.

Wonga is not the first the company to be hit by a cyber attack. The Financial Times says such breaches have become "a common hazard for companies whose databases hold sensitive data".

Tesco Bank last year had to suspend online payments after £2.5m was stolen from customer accounts, while the likes of TalkTalk, Vodafone and Yahoo have suffered personal data breaches.

Today's news adds to the pressure Wonga has been under since new rules came in two years' ago limiting the amount of interest it could charge on short-term loans. Its losses more than doubled from £38m to £80m in 2015.