Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Booking.com WhatsApp and text fraud a criminal show of force

The recent Booking.com WhatsApp and text fraud operation showed precisely what criminals can do with enough data at their disposal.

According to the media reports in the aftermath of the Booking.com WhatsApp and text issue, criminals were looking to reap hundreds of thousands of pounds in ill-gotten gains by duping people into thinking they were Booking.com by using personalised messages that were said to have looked genuine, and included personal data.

Some people reportedly fell for the scam and lost money as a result, and we understand that Booking.com has committed to compensating victims.

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Drone jacking could be the next big data breach risk

As the technology and use of unmanned aerial vehicles continues to grow, drone jacking could be the next big data breach risk.

Drones are already used in a number of industries: engineers use them for surveillance; insurance companies reportedly use them for monitoring; and Amazon want to use them to deliver packages to the doorsteps of homes around the world.

Our concerns are simple: if organisations can’t even get data protection right on a systems and software level, how are they going to get it right when it comes to potentially dangerous drones?

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Almost half of UK manufacturing industry report cyber-attacks

Almost half of businesses in the UK manufacturing industry have reported cyber-attacks, with the UK manufacturing industry described as somewhat of an easy target.

We don’t often see manufacturers in the news for data breaches and cyber-attacks, but this date from a recent study shows that there is a worrying trend of it being a common problem in the industry.

The UK manufacturing industry is reportedly among the least-protected sector in the UK.

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Scams and fraud from data breaches and data leaks

Scams and fraud from data breaches and data leaks are common. In fact, scams and fraud are common anyway, with more than 10,000 cases reported last year, which was a five percent rise on the previous year.

It can be so easy for people to fall victim to scams and fraud that stem from data breaches, so the big question is how people can protect themselves, and what the organisations who hold our money – and data – can do to protect us as well. The burden of responsibility is a two-way street, and there is plenty that banks and organisations can do to better protect us.
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TalkTalk accused of continuing to neglect cybersecurity

Telecoms giant TalkTalk have been accused of continuing to neglect cybersecurity after a hacker contacted Sky news and reported website security flaws that had been left unfixed for years.

The news comes as little surprise to us as we continue to represent victims for previous TalkTalk cyber-hacks that were, in our view, entirely preventable.

According to the media reports from the end of March, the hacker found a simple scripting error that allowed him to take control of a TalkTalk.co.uk URL, and use it to trick customers that they were visiting a genuine TalkTalk website.
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How scammers used Facebook’s phone number and email address search facility

Facebook has been all over the news lately over the data breach scandal involving data being skimmed by Cambridge Analytica. Since news first broke of the scandal, Facebook has been under heavy fire over their data privacy policies, as well as how they use people’s data and how it is shared.

In the latest, it can now be assumed that every Facebook user has had their data improperly shared. But, another issue is the questionable Facebook phone number search facility that has, reportedly, been used by scammers who are abusing the facility for their own gain.

Read on to find out how.
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Serious risk facing Equifax breach victims from scammers and fraudsters!

There is a wealth of information already out there in the public domain about most people. From loads of information accessible by anyone on social media platforms, to the data we share with organisations who may then be passing it around (whether we’re aware or not), there is so much out there.

So, when we have a serious data protection breach like the Equifax hack, the risk for victims is massive. It’s not hard for scammers and fraudsters to be able to find more information online about the Equifax breach victims, meaning the risks are very hard to manage.
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Fraudsters still posing as TalkTalk to scam customers

We have helped and advised people in the past who were scammed out of thousands of pounds because they were called by fraudsters who were able to convince the victims they were calling from TalkTalk themselves.

The criminals likely gained their information from the TalkTalk cyber-hack and had enough details to be able to trick victims in to thinking they were the real deal, with names, addresses, numbers and even account info.

The fraudsters are still at it; with plenty of targets to choose from thanks to the huge TalkTalk data protection breach.
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Google phishing scam affects up to 1 million users

You would’ve thought that Google would have their cyber-security under wraps, but it seems that following Yahoo’s cyber-attack back in 2014, no company is safe.

In this case, a phishing email was sent out to nearly 1 million Gmail users, and the email itself claimed to come from trustworthy contacts using Google Docs – a document sharing and editing service. The email notified users that a document had been shared with them and invited them to open it, and upon clicking on the “Open in Docs” button that was displayed, users were asked to give “Google Docs” permission to access their emails and manage their contacts.
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Whistle-blowers reveal Indian call centre scammers targeting TalkTalk customers following massive data breach

Several whistle-blowers have come forward to disclose details of an alleged intricate scamming operation set up in India to target TalkTalk customers.

The unnamed whistle-blowers told a BBC reporter that they were employed by a gang of professional fraudsters to trick TalkTalk customers into revealing personal information and provide access to their bank accounts.
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