Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Wonga data breach could affect 245,000 UK customers
Company admits personal information including addresses and bank account numbers could have been taken
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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
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.
Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the day’s biggest news and analysis – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
