How did this happen?
Following a detailed investigation, we understand that some customer information, including account numbers, could have been illegally accessed in violation of our security procedures. No financial data was at risk as this is encrypted on our systems.
We have been working with an external specialist security company to take urgent and serious steps to prevent this happening again.
How will you stop this happening again?
As part of our ongoing approach to security, we constantly test our systems and processes using external security specialists. We have put every possible measure in place to try and stop this from happening again.
We have reported the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office and we're liaising with them and other official bodies because these scammers are targeting every sector.
When did you become aware of this issue?
We initially received reports of this scam towards the end of last year, and ever since we have been working to find out how it happened, as well as putting in place robust security measures to stop it happening again. Now that we have completed this, we're letting you know what happened.
How can I protect myself against this scam?
We would please ask you to take extra care when anyone rings or emails you claiming to be from TalkTalk, we know that the scammers have been targeting our customers claiming that there is a problem with their computer (such as a virus), asking for remote access to download new software and requesting bank details to pay compensation. If you receive a call like this please hang up immediately.
Is my information still safe?
The data that was accessed was names, home addresses, phone numbers and TalkTalk account numbers, but please rest assured no financial data such as bank or credit card details, or dates of birth were taken as this is encrypted on our system. We believe that the scammers may be using the information they have illegally obtained to trick people into thinking they are genuine TalkTalk callers, and encouraging them to hand over more detailed information, such as their bank details.
http://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/...-from-phone-scams-Please/m-p/1613664#U1613664
It annoys me when this happens because when they don't own up to it, it makes things worse for their public image and also puts customers at a higher risk of fraud. Going to say that this doesn't really surprise me one bit because you know, talktalk is talktalk.