United Kingdom National Lottery operator Camelot has revealed that around 26,500 online accounts have been hacked in what is being described as a cyber criminal of immense proportions.
Camelot’s online security monitoring discovered suspicious activity on players’ online accounts which have been hacked and in some cases even had their personal details changed.
Personal data including names, contact details, date of birth, bank sort code, last four digits of a bank account number and the last four digits of any debit card registered to an account have all been accesses.
Players have been sent emails warning them they have been victims of “suspicious activity” on their accounts, but many chose to ignore the warnings mistaking them for spams.
The accounts were accessed on Monday night when almost 50 accounts of the total 26,5000 had their personal details changed. Players have since then been contacted and instructed to change their passwords and login details.
“We are currently taking all the necessary steps to fully understand what has happened, but we believe that the email address and password used on the National Lottery website may have been stolen from another website where affected players use the same details,” it said in a statement.
“We do not hold full debit card or bank account details in National Lottery players' online accounts and no money has been taken or deposited.
“However, we do believe that this attack may have resulted in some of the personal information that the affected players hold in their online account being accessed.”
Camelot believes its own systems had not been compromised, but claim that the players’ login details had been compromised from elsewhere.
The company also revealed that no money had been taken from or added to the hacked accounts.
The National Lottery boasts 9.5 million registered online accounts and Monday’s hack represents a small portion of the total number.
The Police and the National Crime Agency are currently investigating the case.
