In March 2023, Latitude Financial Services experienced a cyber-attack that compromised the personal information of:
- Current and former customers.
- Applicants in Australia and New Zealand.
- Individuals who engaged with GE Money before its transition to Latitude in 2015.
We acted swiftly to contain the breach by taking our systems offline to prioritise the protection of personal information. Latitude refused to pay the ransom, as doing so would not guarantee the return or destruction of the stolen data and was not in the best interests of our customers.
Our Response to the Incident
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Notified Affected Individuals: We prioritised contacting individuals whose identification documents were compromised. They were provided with:
- Details on the stolen data.
- Available support.
- Recommended actions to protect themselves.
- Support Measures: Latitude worked closely with government agencies to facilitate document replacement and reimbursed costs where applicable.
- For more information, visit our Latitude Cyber Response page.
Strengthened Security Measures
Since the incident, Latitude has further reinforced its security systems to protect the personal and identity information of our customers, partners, and employees.
Tips to Protect Yourself
- Enable multi-factor authentication and secure your accounts.
- Be vigilant against fraud, scams, and phishing attempts.
- Verify the sender of any communication and avoid clicking on suspicious links. Report phishing attempts via www.scamwatch.gov.au.
- Latitude will not contact you to request for a verification code or one-time-passcode.
- If you suspect fraudulent activity:
- Contact us immediately.
- For unauthorised charges, raise a dispute for investigation.
For more security tips, visit www.cyber.gov.au, www.cert.govt.nz or our website’s security information section.