MONTREAL, Quebec–Following the breach of data involving nearly three-million credit union members here, officials are warning consumers to be wary of phishing emails, text messages and telephone calls.
As CUToday.info reported here, a yet-to-be-identified former employee of The Desjardins Group is suspected of stealing information on 2.7 million members who are part of Desjardin credit unions in Quebec and Ontario that includes names, addresses, birth dates, social insurance numbers, email addresses and information about transaction habits. Desjardins representatives have said passwords, security questions and personal identification numbers were not compromised.
The Desjardins Group is cautioning the affected members that fraudsters may contact them under the pretext they are connected to the member’s credit union and are providing security measures and updates in order to extract personal information.
‘Do Not Click’
The Desjardins Group said it doesn’t ask for personal information by email, text or telephone. “(Desjardins Group) reminds you to never reply to e-mails, text messages or telephone calls asking for personal information, whatever the reason given,” the organization said. “Contrary to what the fraudsters may try to make you believe, such e-mails and text messages do not come from your financial institution, even if they bear the institution’s logo. Do not click on the Internet link that may appear, as it will direct you to a fake site mimicking your financial institution’s website in order to steal your personal information.”
One critical piece of information on the crime is still missing: Who has the information and where is it? noted the CBC.
Desjardins reported it hasn’t seen a spike in fraud concerning members’ accounts since it uncovered the breach, and it continues to work with the police.
Lawsuits Filed
Meanwhile, the Montreal Gazette reported two proposed class action suits have been filed. The first was filed in Quebec Superior Court on Friday on behalf of a Quebec City resident and is looking for compensation of up to $2.9 billion, as well as punitive damages of $290 million. That would be $300 for each affected credit union member, according to CBC News.
The second proposed suit doesn’t specify exactly how much compensation it’s after, although the plaintiff named in the suit is seeking $300 in punitive damages, the Gazette reported.
“Both suits allege that the co-operative financial group failed to adequately safeguard its clientele’s personal and financial information,” the Gazette said.
Desjardins is currently offering to pay for five years of credit monitoring.