Police offer Carphone Warehouse customers advice over hack fears

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) produces list of instructions to the 2.4 million customers who may be affected by Carphone Warehouse cyber attack last Wednesday 

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) has today produced list of instructions to the 2.4 million customers who may be affected by Carphone Warehouse cyber attack last Wednesday.

The response follows Saturday’s news that Carphone Warehouse the retailers back office IT system had been accessed by criminals on Wednesday (August 5), with details including customers addresses, bank details, dates of birth feared to have been stolen. Up to 90,000 of its customers credit card details may also have been stolen during the attack.

Carphone has confirmed only customers who connected through the retailers ecommerce brands; e2save, OneStopPhoneShop and Mobiles.co.uk are affected. All affected customers have now been contacted by Carphone Warehouse via email.

The NFIB works closely with the government  and the UK police services sitting alongside Action Fraud within the City of London Police which is the national policing lead for fraud.

The firm has requested customer follow the following steps to reduce the risk.

What can those who have been affected do?

• Contact your bank/credit card company, so that they can monitor for suspicious activity on your account.
• Change your password for your online account. Use three words or more and include a symbol and use upper and lower case letters and numbers. You should change passwords often and never use the same one twice.
• Monitor your account for any suspicious or unexpected activity.
• Beware of targeted phishing emails. If you receive unsolicited emails never reply with your full password, login details or account details. Don’t click on any links as you could end up downloading a virus.
• Be wary of anyone calling asking for personal information, bank details or passwords. If in doubt, just hang up.
• Watch out for signs of identity crime. Visit Experian, Equifax or Noddle to check your credit rating to make sure no one has applied for credit in your name.
• If you have fallen victim to fraud, report it to Action Fraud.

If you have been affected by the Carphone Warehouse cyber attack, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the editor michaelg@mobilenewscwp.co.uk or the editorial team on 020 7278 0795.