Clients of Desjardins Group may be targeted by fraudsters following personal data leak

The millions of members of Desjardins Group whose personal information was disclosed as a result of a data leak discovered last week are facing additional risks, according to a warning by Quebec’s Financial Markets Authority

In the wake of Desjardins Group’s recent announcement regarding the recent personal data leak, the AMF is warning members and clients of the institution that they may be the target of fraudulent e-mails, text messages and telephone calls.

The regulator says fraudsters may contact Desjardins’ clients in an attempt to extract personal information under the pretext that they are doing so in connection with security measures or updates stemming from the incident discovered on June 20, 2019.

The AMF advises members of the public not to click on the Internet link that may appear, as it will direct you to a fake site mimicking your financial institution’s website in order to steal your personal information. The regulator also says clients have to be wary if they receive any unsolicited telephone calls in this regard.

According to the information provided by Desjardins Group, those affected will be contacted by regular mail.

The personal information of 2.9 million members has been affected. This includes 2.7 million personal members and 173,000 business members.

The disclosed information of Personal members is comprised of: first and last name, date of birth, social insurance number, address, phone number, email address and details of banking habits and Desjardins products.

The disclosed information of Business members is comprised of: business name, business address, business phone number, owner’s name and names of users on the AccèsD Affaires account. Some of the personal information associated with AccèsD Affaires account users may also be affected.

Passwords, security questions, PINs, and credit and debit card numbers have not been compromised.