Thousands of people are thought to have had their online National Lottery accounts hacked, according to its operator Camelot. The company believes that around 26,500 players have been accessed and it is feared that some personal details may have been accessed. Around 9.5 million people have online National Lottery accounts, although Camelot believes that fewer than 50 have had activity take place within their account.
All of the accounts believed to be compromised have been suspended and Camelot is in the process of contacting affected users.
A spokesman for Camelot said: “On Sunday, as part of our online security monitoring, we became aware of suspicious activity on a very small proportion of our players’ online National Lottery accounts.
“We would like to make clear that there has been no unauthorised access to core National Lottery systems or any of our databases, which would affect draws or payment of prizes. In addition, no money has been deposited or withdrawn from affected player accounts. “We are currently taking all the necessary steps to fully understand what has happened, but we believe that the email address and password used on the National Lottery website may have been stolen from another website where affected players use the same details.
“We do not hold full debit card or bank account details in National Lottery players’ online accounts and no money has been taken or deposited. “However, we do believe that this attack may have resulted in some of the personal information that the affected players hold in their online account being accessed.”
READ MORE: Everything we know about disappearance of missing teenager Iwan Thomas2 The spokesman added: “We’d like to reassure our customers that protecting their personal data is of the utmost importance to us.
“We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to our players and would like to encourage those with any concerns to contact us directly, so we can discuss it with them in more detail.
“Cyber criminals such as this are persistent, and we are continuing to monitor and protect our systems.
We are also working closely with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre on an ongoing basis on this criminal matter.”
READ MORE: MPs expenses claims across Somerset include 9p mileage claim3
References
- ^ Comments (0) (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ Everything we know about disappearance of missing teenager Iwan Thomas (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
- ^ MPs expenses claims across Somerset include 9p mileage claim (www.somersetlive.co.uk)