Hackers Access Nearly 2,000 Vodafone Accounts
Vodafone says hackers cannot directly access bank accounts but customers could be left vulnerable to fraud and phishing attempts.
17:33 Saturday 31 October 2015
Vodafone says hackers have accessed the accounts of 1,827 customers, just a week after a separate hacking attack at TalkTalk.
The hack could potentially give criminals customers' names, mobile numbers, bank sort codes and the last four digits of their bank accounts.
The company said an attempt had been made to access some of its customers' account details between midnight Wednesday and midday on Thursday.
An investigation has been launched by the company and the National Crime Agency and communications watchdogs were told on Friday.
A Vodafone spokesman confirmed 1,827 customers had their accounts accessed but added that the information obtained by the hackers "cannot be used directly to access customers' bank accounts".
The information does leave the customers open to fraud and perhaps phishing attempts, however, and Vodafone said the banks of affected customers had been contacted.
Vodafone said it is also contacting affected customers and helping them to change their account details.
They added: "Our investigation and mitigating actions have meant that only a handful of customers have been subject to any attempts to use this data for fraudulent activity on their Vodafone accounts.
"No other customers need to be concerned, as the security of our customers' data continues to be one of our highest priorities."
TalkTalk was hacked on 23 October, saying last Friday that fewer than 21,000 unique bank account numbers and sort codes were accessed.
A 20-year-old man from Staffordshire became the third person to be arrested over that alleged data theft on Saturday.
Two boys - a 15-year-old from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and a 16-year-old from Feltham, west London - were previously arrested and released on police bail over that incident.
