Elinor Mills reports:
Hackers have released consumer data stolen from an online loan provider, after the company refused to pay an extortion fee.
“On June 12, AmeriCash Advance received a fax, telling us that part of our Web site had been hacked. The letter went on to demand initial payment of $15,000 from us,” AmeriCash Advance, an online payday cash advance provider, said in a statement provided to CNET. “We immediately notified the appropriate authorities and promptly took steps to ensure that no other data could be accessed. We will not cave in to blackmail, and are cooperating fully with the authorities to protect our customers and bring these criminals to justice.”
The breach was limited in scope, and the main concern is that the specific data exposed, which consists of names, e-mail addresses, last four digits of Social Security numbers, and the name of the customer’s financial institution, could be used for phishing attacks, according to AmeriCash Advance.
Read more on CNET.