3 Millon Audi and Volkswagen Customers Impacted by VW Audi Data Breach
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German auto manufacturer Volkswagen has been hit by a data breach. The cyberattack includes Volkswagen and Audi customer data.
Volkswagen Group of America announced that a Volkswagen data breach impacts about 3.3 million of the company’s customers. Cybercriminals stole the data from a database vendor used for sales and marketing.
The data was left exposed in an unsecure file.
Volkswagen data breach stolen personal data was heisted from a third-party vendor sued by Audi, Volkswagen, and some of dealerships in the Unted States and Canada.
It’s unclear exactly when the breach happened. The Volkswagen data breach occurred somewhere between August 2019 and May 2021. However, the company says it did not know about the data breach until 10 March 2021.
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Volkswagen has notified 90,000 customers who had extremely sensitive information stolen by cybercriminals.
VW Data Breached information includes:
- Birthdate
- Social Security or social insurance number
- Account or loan number
- Tax identification numbers
Volkswagen s offering these customers free credit protection services to this subset of customers.
“The investigation confirmed in early May 2021 that a third party obtained limited personal information received from or about customers and interested buyers from a vendor used by Audi, Volkswagen, and some authorized dealers in the United States and Canada. This included information gathered for sales and marketing purposes from 2014 to 2019,” said Volkswagen according to Autoevolution.
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However, there are millions of other customers also impacted by the Volkswagen data breach.
Volkswagen and Audi Exposed Data Also Includes
For the majority of victims, the attackers made off with contact information. This could all be used in future scam emails that attempt to steal money and passwords.
- First name
- Last name
- Mailing address
- email address
- Phone numbers
For some, the attackers also compromised
- Vehicle their purchase or lease information
- Vehicle ID Number (VIN)
- Make
- Model
- Vehicle Year
- Trim package
No account passwords were stolen in the breach.
Volkswagen Data Breach – What to Do
Customers who had their date of birth and government ID information stolen are at great risk for future crimes like identity theft.
However, all customers involved in the Volkswagen data breach are at increased risk for future cyberattacks like phishing emails and online scams.
Cybercriminals send phishing attacks to the email addresses stolen in a data breach. They also send emails or text messages containing links to harmful websites or malicious computer code that attacks computers.
If a customer is fooled by a phishing email and clicks on a malicious link, they can unknowingly launch a computer virus on their own computer or phone. It’s best to protect all electronic devices with a strong antivirus app like Kaspersky or Malwarebytes.
Volkswagen and Audi customers should change their account passwords. Just last week it was announced that over 26 million passwords were stolen and dumped online. Cybercriminals will combine information stolen in two separate data breaches and use it to steal money from victims by breaking into their online accounts.
People often use the same password over and over again – making it easy for cybercriminals to use one password to steal from multiple online accounts.
Use a reputable password app to create unique and strong passwords for all your online accounts. Password manager apps store your passwords safely, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting them. The app will also sync your passwords across all your computers, laptops, tablets, and phones so you’ll never have to worry about remembering a password.
