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Consumer, business, and credit information services agency Experian is having a terrible week.

On Wednesday, the news emerged that a fraudster appeared to have breached information from the company.

Calls went out to report any suspicious activity, and customers were encouraged to come forward if they felt that their information had been compromised.

It was feared that the personal information of roughly 24 million South Africans was at risk, along with that of 793 749 business entities.

In a swift resolution, however, it looks as though they’ve caught the criminal behind it all.

Over to The Citizen, who say that the fraudster gained access to Experian by posing as a client requesting services from them. Experian claims that the suspect was identified thanks to an Anton Piller order, and that law enforcement is on the case.

According to Go Legal, an Anton Piller order…

….allows a party that feels that their rights are being infringed to approach the court as a matter of urgency and without notice to the alleged wrongdoer for an order sanctioning a raid of the premises of the alleged wrongdoer in order to find and preserve evidence that it believes will otherwise be destroyed.

The data has now been secured and deleted.

“We can confirm that no consumer credit or consumer financial information was obtained. Our investigations do not indicate that any misappropriated data has been used for fraudulent purposes.

“Our investigations also show that the suspect had intended to use the data to create marketing leads to offer insurance and credit-related services,” Experian said in a statement.

To be safe, banks and law enforcement are working with Experian and South African Banking Risk Centre (SABRIC) to identify and protect any clients who may have been affected by the incident, before the perpetrator was unearthed.

First National Bank (FNB) has advised customers to be “extra vigilant” and to follow recommended security precautions. Any customers who have been affected by the breach will be contacted by FNB directly.

Standard Bank says that some of its clients’ demographic information was provided to a third party posing as Experian.

The bank said it has “proactively stepped up” its authentication process, fraud prevention and detection strategies, but could not divulge more details.

Going forward, here are some handy tips from Southern African Fraud Preventions Services (SAFPS) CEO Manie van Schalkwyk, for keeping your personal information safe online:

• Never disclose personal information to anyone via telephone, text or email;
• Change your passwords regularly, and do not share them with anyone;
• Only verify requests for personal information when there is a legitimate reason to do so;
• Follow your bank’s recommended security precautions for online banking.

Head here for more info on how to report suspected fraud to SAFPS.

[source:citizen]