What is it:
Latitude Financial Services is an Aussie finance company based in Melbourne, with a branch in New Zealand called Gem Finance. They offer various financial products like Personal Loans, Credit Cards, Car Loans, Personal Insurance, and Interest Free Retail Finance.
Latitude recently suffered a cyber-attack which has led to compromise of Latitude financial customer data:
- Images of driver licence which, where applicable, included customers photograph, name, address, date of birth, licence number, card number and expiry date.
- The personal information customers supplied during your application or quote request which, where applicable, included your full name, address, date of birth, your email and your phone number.
- A photograph of customers face provided as part of Latitude’s identity verification process.
The company said [pdf] it has isolated some of its systems and taken them offline to thwart further attacks.
Who does it apply to?
If you have applied for a product or are a customer of Latitude Financial Services and gave personal information.
What should you do about it?
Latitude Financial Services has personally contacted customers whose information has been compromised in the cyber attack. Please keep an eye out for an email from them. However, it’s unclear if your details have been affected if you haven’t received an email yet.
- At the time of writing this, Latitude is currently working to resolve the incident and is providing updates to its customers. To stay informed, you can check for updates here. https://www.latitudefinancial.com.au/latitude-cyber-incident/
- Monitor your accounts: Check your bank and credit card statements regularly for any suspicious activity, and report any unauthorized transactions immediately to your bank or credit card company.
- Change your passwords: If you use the same password for any other accounts, change them immediately. Use a strong, unique password for each account, and consider using a password manager to generate and store strong passwords.
- Enable two-factor authentication: If you haven’t already, enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all of your accounts that support it. This adds an extra layer of security to your accounts and can help prevent unauthorized access.
- Check your credit report: Contact one of the three credit reporting agencies in Australia (Illion, Equifax, Experian) to obtain your credit report and check for any suspicious activity.
- Be vigilant for phishing scams: Be wary of any unsolicited emails or text messages asking you to click on links or provide personal information. Don’t provide personal information unless you are sure it is legitimate.
- Contact IDCARE : If you have concerns about your personal information being misused or have noticed any suspicious activity, contact IDCARE, Australia’s national identity and cyber support community service, for assistance.
- Consider freezing your credit: Consider placing a security freeze on your credit report to prevent anyone from opening new accounts or loans in your name without your knowledge. This may limit your ability to open new credit accounts, but it can help protect you from identity theft.
Sources:
https://www.latitudefinancial.com.au/latitude-cyber-incident/
Useful Resources:
https://www.idcare.org/latitude-incident-response
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