Personal information belonging to customers of Paddy Power and Betfair compromised in data breach

Personal information belonging to customers of Paddy Power and Betfair has been compromised in a data breach, the bookmakers’ parent company Flutter has said.

According to a statement from Flutter, no passwords, identification documents or payment details were acquired in the breach.  

However, in emails sent to customers that have been posted on social media, Flutter has outlined that details such as usernames, emails, contact information, the first line of their address and their town or city could have been taken. 

While reassuring customers that it is "not aware" their personal information has been misused, the bookmaking giant has warned them to be vigilant.

In a statement to the Racing Post, a Flutter spokesman said: “We can confirm that our Paddy Power and Betfair businesses have suffered a data incident involving personal information for some of our customers.

“Immediately upon becoming aware of this incident, we informed relevant regulators and authorities and initiated a full investigation, supported by external IT security experts, to understand what happened and how we can better protect our networks and customers. The unauthorised access has been removed and the incident contained.

“Our investigation concluded that the affected information was isolated to limited betting account information. No passwords, ID documents or usable card or payment details were impacted. We are informing all affected customers.

“Safeguarding and securing our customers’ information is of the utmost importance to us.”

The Racing Post understands that Flutter has informed the Gambling Commission and the Information Commissioner's Office about the hack, and believes the incident has been contained and is over.

The data breach at Betfair and Paddy Power comes just a month after the BHA was targeted in a cyber attack that impacted its internal systems and data.

This year, Marks & Spencer was the victim of a significant cyber incident that locked the retailer's systems and impacted sales for six weeks, while operations at the Co-op's supermarkets and funeral services were hit by an attack in April. 

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