Leak of private user information in the Virgin Media incident

The Virgin Media data breach that was revealed in the news in 2020 involved the leak of private user information, including names and email addresses, as well as telephone numbers and, in some cases, details about contracts.

For most online accounts nowadays, we use our names and/or email address as usernames, so this data leak could have immediately put people at risk of fraud and theft. Combine this with further data, or the contract information affected in some cases, and fraudsters could cause serious damage to innocent victims.

This is why we take data breaches and leaks so seriously here at Your Lawyers. As leading specialists in data breach claims and group actions, having launched over 50 different actions so far, we are here to help.

The leak of private user information

Because of the nature of the information that was affected by the Virgin Media data breach, victims have suffered from the leak of private user information. The data was exposed for a period of 10 months between April 2019 and March 2020 before the problem was identified by a third-party security researcher. Only then did Virgin Media take action to secure the exposed information but, by this time, an unknown third-party had already accessed the information.

It remains unknown as to what action, if anything, the person who accessed the data has taken or could take in the future.

Why this is a risk to victims

There can be substantial risks to victims when it comes to the leak of private user information. Hackers can use software to try to guess passwords, or they can use exposed information in other leaks to combine the two. They may even try to properly guess passwords based on information you may have on social media accounts.

Once they have access to something like a user account, especially an email account, they could do far more damage. This is particularly the case given that most of us use our email addresses as part of our user credentials for accessing all sorts of other accounts, and they could use reset password processes to access further accounts.

Fraudsters may simply email the victims with spoof emails and link them to copy websites to dupe people into entering real information that they can then abuse. Known as phishing scams, these are increasingly popular methods that hackers are using nowadays, and they can try to make their emails look legitimate by including data exposed in a leak like this.

Join the Virgin Media data breach group action now

If you have been the victim of the leak of private user information in the Virgin Media data breach, you could be eligible to join our group action now. We are able to represent eligible victims for legal cases on a No Win, No Fee basis, and you do not need to have lost any money to be able to make a claim.

You can start your legal case for compensation now by completing a few simple forms as part of the sign-up process here and become a client today. With our No Win, No Fee in place, what have you got to lose?

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