The Smith Family, which helps disadvantaged children succeed through education, is the latest target of cyber-hackers in the wake of attacks on Optus, MediBank and other Australian companies.
The national charity believes the primary motive of the attack was an attempt to steal money, but the hackers were unsuccessful. However, there may be access to donors’ personal information, including names; telephone number, address and/or e-mail address; information about whether a donation payment has been successfully processed or declined and the donation amount; and in some cases, the first and last four digits of the credit or debit card used to donate.
Doug Taylor, CEO of The Smith Family, said no middle digits, expiration date or CVV numbers were used, as The Smith Family does not store that information in its systems.
“We apologize for any concern or stress this incident may have caused. We are contacting every donor and sponsor regarding the incident whether their information has been accessed or not,” he said.
“We are reaching out to our individual supporters so they can take steps to protect their information and prevent potential scams.”
Taylor said they acted immediately to secure and strengthen the company’s systems, adding that the data accessed cannot in itself be used to make fraudulent purchases.
“While there is currently no evidence of any misuse of an individual supporter’s personal information, we understand that this incident may be cause for concern. We will continue to keep our donors and sponsors informed and communicate transparently,” he said.
“We thank our donors and sponsors for their continued support and understanding. We remain committed to the delivery of The Smith Family programs to support the education of young Australians in need.
Anyone concerned about the incident and how they may have been affected can contact the charity for support[at]thesmithfamily.com.au
