Local customers of US-based logistics company Aeropost have been forced to cancel their credit cards amid a widespread data breach.
The recent incident has left online shoppers concerned despite assurances that the issue has been resolved.
On Sunday, customers were advised that their credit cards may have been compromised as a safety system that stores encrypted information was hacked.
In a statement, the company said, “Although our systems safely store your credit card information encrypted, it may be possible that enforcers attempt to run transactions.”
The company recommended that to prevent further damage, customers should check their credit card statement for fraudulent transactions and report them to their credit card issuer as well as request a credit card replacement.
It is not yet known how many local customers have been affected but social media was abuzz yesterday with concerned users of Aeropost. Customers acknowledged that their credit cards had been breached and some also told Guardian Media that they weren’t too rattled, as they were alerted to the fake transactions and were able to stop them in time. However, not all customers were so lucky.
Yesterday, Gerard Rique, Innovations and Solutions manager at Ramps logistics, a supply chain management company, said these attacks are not new.
“Just as how we’re getting better at technology and we’re learning more, I mean the cybercriminals, they’re getting smarter and they’re learning ways to breach systems and get into systems, Rique said.
Rique also urged customers to be alert.
“Any personal information that you have to enter, be very careful about it and only enter it in reputable sources and reputable websites.”
However, managing director of Web Source, Lincoln Maharaj, said despite all the preventative measures, there can be no guarantee that customers will not be infiltrated.
“It all boils down to which company hackers decide to go after and ask for ransom for, we don’t know, right now a hacker can be trying to hack my own identity and be me in another country.”
Aeropost continues to remind customers to delete their credit card information and report fraudulent transactions.