Fraudulent credit card activity reported by banks following Loyaltybuild data breach

14 Nov 2013

Image via Andrea Danti/Shutterstock

AIB and Permanent TSB have reported incidents of possible credit card fraud, which may have resulted from the Loyaltybuild data breach. The cyberattack on the Clare-based company is said to have compromised details of more than 1m people across Europe.

Though neither bank can confirm that the Loyaltybuild data breach is to blame for suspicious activity on accounts, both are investigating the evidence. Dozens of customers have been affected, reports the Irish Independent.

Other Irish banks are also investigating whether the breach has affected customers but, so far, both Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland have found no evidence of credit-card fraud.

A cyberattack on Loyaltybuild is said to have occurred in mid-October, compromising data from about 1.1m people across Europe. The Irish Data Protection Commissioner believes about 500,000 of these people have had their credit-card details compromised.

Loyaltybuild manages loyalty programmes for a number of companies in Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia and Switzerland. In Ireland, more than 62,000 SuperValu customers, up to 8,000 AXA customers, about 6,700 ESB customers and, possibly, about 50 Stena Line customers have been affected by the breach.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is examining the case, while the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is also investigating why this information had been retained by Loyaltybuild and how customers’ details may have been put at risk.

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner has advised customers with concerns to examine their credit-card bills and report any suspicious activity. Banks have reminded customers that it is their responsibility to check activity on their credit cards.

Credit card fraud image by Andrea Danti via Shutterstock

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com