Absa has announced that even more of its customers have been affected by the November 2020 data leak. The bank informed its customers that some of their personal details may have been compromised.
This data that may have been exposed to third parties includes ID numbers, contact details, physical addresses, and account numbers.
“We have heightened precautionary measures to protect your financial interests, and you might receive a phone call from Absa to validate potentially suspicious transactions,” said Absa.
The bank cautioned customers that Absa would never ask them to share their online banking PIN, password, card CVV, PIN or OTP with anybody.
When Absa was first hit by a data breach, the financial institution said only a small percentage of its customers had been affected.
In December of 2020, Absa revealed that the leak was caused by an employee.
According to Absa, the employee had unlawfully made selected customer data available to a small number of external parties.
“Upon discovering the contravention, Absa secured high court orders that enabled search and seizure operations at various premises and secured all devices containing the data. The data on these devices was subsequently destroyed,” said Absa.
Absa said it believed that the data was going to be used for telemarketing purposes and brought criminal charges against the employee.
15 months after the leak, the bank also informed customers that more of them had been affected.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE