In a piece of shocking news, the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen stated that the data of its 3.3 million customers has been compromised. The affected users are mostly from North America.
“We recently discovered that an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information received from or about customers and interested buyers from a vendor that Audi, Volkswagen and some authorized dealers in the United States and Canada use for digital sales and marketing activities,” – statement by a Volkswagen spokesperson.
Many big companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Upstox. etc. have fallen victim to data breaches in recent times.
Approximately 3.3 million customers’ basic information has been reported stolen. 95% of the affected customer’s data of Volkswagen include the driving license numbers. On the other hand, the other 5% consist of the date of birth, social security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers, and postal mailing addresses.
The hack has been made at an outside vendor of Volkswagen and Audi however the name of the vendor has not been disclosed. The information stolen was gathered between 2014 and 2019. It was saved in an unsecured file according to the official sources. The information was saved for marketing purposes. The data included information of people who had contacted for purchasing an Audi or Volkswagen vehicle.
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause our current or potential customers. As always, we recommend that individuals remain alert for suspicious emails or other communications that might ask them to provide information about themselves or their vehicle.”, another statement by the company spokesperson.
The company is reaching out to over 90000 customers and shoppers from the US warning them of any suspicious emails and explaining to them the necessary steps taken.
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