We are taking legal action and seeking compensation on behalf of several victims that have approached us for help as victims of the 118 118 Money data breach.
If you have received notification from the company that your information has been exposed in the cyberattack, we may be able to represent you. The risks for the victims in the wake of this breach could be substantial given the nature of the data that has been compromised. You could be in line to receive compensation for the distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information. If any financial losses and expenses have also been incurred, we can also look to account for this too.
Read on for more information and advice.
About the 118 118 Money data breach
The 118 118 Money data breach stems from an unauthorised access event of their network. This was discovered on 20th March 2020, and the target appears to have been customer call recordings. Audio files have been exposed, which means that any personal information discussed in those calls may now have been compromised.
We understand that data such as names, addresses, dates of birth will likely be involved. Any additional matters discussed in the calls may also have been exposed. This may mean that we see similar risks that we did with the TalkTalk data breach where criminals posed as TalkTalk customer service representatives and contacted customers. They were able to convince victims to hand over money and access to accounts by passing themselves off as legitimate agents by using information exposed in the breach.
It could only take one call using something like a complaint matter that was discussed in an exposed audio file for criminals to pass themselves off as 118 118 Money employees. This is why personal information breaches can be so severe even when financial data itself has not actually been compromised.
Victims of the breach have been notified, and people should remain very vigilant of any contact that they may now receive.
What can victims of the breach do?
Victims of the 118 118 Money data breach could be entitled to make a claim for compensation with us on a No Win, No Fee basis.
We are already representing several victims who have been in touch with us and appointed us as their legal representatives. Based on what we know so far, we believe that there may be a case to answer which is why we have taken cases forward.
You can speak to our expert data breach claims team for free and no-obligation advice here.
Will there be a regulatory fine?
The UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has the power to issue substantial fines to organisations that are found to be in breach of the GDPR. Penalties can be in the millions, as we have seen from the initial intentions to fine both British Airways and Marriott for the amounts of £183m and £99m respectively.
If the ICO believes that more could, and should, have been done to have prevented the incident, they may choose to issue a monetary penalty.
Importantly, any money recovered from fines is not designed to be used for compensation. For the victims to receive the justice that they deserve, they need to launch their own legal case. This is what we are able to represent people for now on a No Win, No Fee basis.