TalkTalk data breach update: customer information found online

In a worrying update regarding the 2015 TalkTalk data breach that we’ve been representing clients for who are making claims for compensation, new customer information has been found online.

The details for an additional 4,545 customers has been found online and could reportedly be located using a google search. Data exposed online included personal information, TalkTalk account data and bank account information.

If you’re one of the thousands of customers whose data has been found online, you may be eligible to join our TalkTalk data breach compensation action. We’re representing victims for cases on a No Win, No Fee basis, and have been doing so for years. This action is one of dozens of group actions and multi-party actions we’re fighting for justice in.

Update in the TalkTalk data breach scandal

A further 4,545 customers are reportedly affected by the TalkTalk data breach scandal of 2015, as additional customer data has been found online.

Information exposed for the additional victims affected includes:

• Full names;
• Telephone numbers;
• Postal addresses;
• Email addresses;
• Customer numbers;
• Bank account details.

This is data that can put victims at an immediate risk of fraud. People who have come to us for help have been targeted by fraudsters who posed as TalkTalk in efforts to steal money from them. The criminals somehow knew key information, such as the customer’s personal data and TalkTalk account details.

Although it’s hard to be certain, we can only estimate that criminals have acquired this data from the breach.

How has this happened?

TalkTalk somehow failed to identify that these additional customers were affected by the data breach. This makes sense to us because TalkTalk has previously denied that some customers we have helped were involved in the breach. This was despite the fact that these customers had been subjected to fraud that’s believed to have stemmed from the 2015 breach.

Now we know that more customers were affected, victims will no doubt be angry at previously being misinformed. That’s why we have taken cases forward in the past even where TalkTalk has disputed that the customer was involved. Things just didn’t add up, and now we know why; they were misinformed.

TalkTalk said:

“A recent investigation has shown that 4,545 customers may have received the wrong notification regarding this incident. This was a genuine error and we have since written to all those impacted to apologise.”

It could be hard to tell whether more people are affected as well. Sometimes, the extent of a data breach incident is incredibly hard to identify.

What can you do if you’re a victim of the TalkTalk data breach?

If you’re a victim of the TalkTalk data breach, you’re more than welcome to speak to our team for free, no-obligation advice.

We’re still offering No Win, No Fee representation, and we’ve been contacted again for help to take new cases forward since the news update hit the headlines.

We appreciate that many customers have been dissatisfied with the way that the incident has been handled. We’ve had reports of customers being ‘fobbed off’, and questions being avoided. Many people have reported being targeted by scams via email and telephone, and it’s believed that this all stems from the TalkTalk cyber-attack.

Some have reported that their credit scores may have been affected as well.

Claiming compensation

You can be entitled to make a claim for compensation as a victim of the TalkTalk data breach. They have already been fined £400,000.000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), but victims are entitled to join our action to bring their own case directly against them.

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