Cash Converters has become the latest name to be added to an ever-lengthening roll call of ignominy after its servers were breached by hackers who likely made off with customer usernames, addresses and passwords.
This particular attack is believed to have centred on the firm's old UK website, supplanted in September 2017 with a more robust portal, forcing the pawnbroker to report its failings to the information commissioner.
No credit card information was included in the haul of lost data however and Cash Converters stress that the breach affected online customers prior to September only. More recent transactions as well as those conducted in-store are claimed to be safe.
In a statement the store wrote: “Our customers truly are at the heart of everything we do, and we are disappointed that they may have been affected. We apologise for this situation and are taking immediate action to address it."
Data breaches have become depressingly familiar as businesses large and small are caught napping by hackers; notably WPP, LinkedIn, Sony Pictures and TalkTalk.