Australian-headquartered global foreign exchange broker Pepperstone has recently sent out an email to clients, alerting them of a data security incident in which third parties are reaching out to the broker’s clients and falsely claiming to be Pepperstone.
In particular, the broker said that it has been made aware that third parties are reaching out to clients, either pretending to be Pepperstone or claiming that the broker has closed down its operations.
The third parties are requesting clients of the firm to transfer their funds and, in some instances, have asked clients to use a remote desktop viewer, the email seen by Finance Magnates said.
The information obtained by third parties is limited to clients’ names, contact information (phone and/or email address) and city/country of residence only
Speaking to Finance Magnates, a spokesperson of Pepperstone said: “Regrettably a small subset of our client contact details were compromised around the 20th July. The incident was limited to client names and contact details – no trading accounts, passwords or client ID documents were impacted.
“The incident was contained and the source identified, and all affected clients were contacted, as well as the relevant authorities. We’re disappointed that this has happened and have ramped up our already considerable investment in Cybersecurity to prevent recurrence.”
In its email sent out to clients, the global FX broker outlines that the third parties have no relationship to Pepperstone.
Pepperstone has reached out to authorities
In the email, sent out on Wednesday, the 22nd of July, the Australian broker confirmed that trading account details, passwords or funding information have not been compromised.
Pepperstone first became aware of the issue on the 21st of July, with the firm launching an investigation with the assistance of an external forensic specialist. Pepperstone is also communicating with national cybercrime agencies and data privacy commissioners in its regulated jurisdictions.
“This issue hasn’t impacted our secure trading environment or client area. Important information regarding clients’ funding methods and trading activities remains protected and our clients can continue to have confidence in using our trading systems safely and securely,” the broker clarified in the email.
