Finance portal MoneySmart apologises after users’ sensitive data accessed in IT system hack

Online finance portal MoneySmart told customers on Tuesday that became aware of a data breach last Thursday after hackers compromised its internal IT systems.

“These systems hold personal data that customers share with us when they compare or apply for financial products through MoneySmart,” it said, according to the email seen by HKFP on Tuesday.

The service allows customers to compare financial products such as insurance, credit cards and loans, as well as apply for them.

Users in Hong Kong and Singapore have been affected.

MoneySmart said that data accessed included names, dates of birth, nationalities, personal identification numbers, email addresses, mobile numbers, vehicle information, car insurance policies, and shipping addresses. Financial profiles were also breached, including users’ income ranges, life stages and details of financial products they owned.

The company apologised to customers and said that it has reported the incident to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Insurance Authority.

In a statement sent to HKFP on Tuesday, MoneySmart CEO Vinod Nair said: “I am deeply sorry to everyone affected. Customers trust us with information about their financial lives, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”

MoneySmart did not state how many users were affected when asked by HKFP.

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Tom founded Hong Kong Free Press in 2015 as the city's first crowdfunded newspaper. He has a BA in Communications and New Media from Leeds University and an MA in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong. He previously founded an NGO advocating for domestic worker rights, and has contributed to the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera and others.

Tom leads HKFP – raising funds, managing the team and navigating risk – whilst regularly speaking on press freedom, ethics and media funding at industry events, schools and conferences around the world.