Cybercriminals use Shiseido breached data to extort victims

A woman from south Wales whose personal data was siphoned during a breach at cosmetics giant Shiseido has been the target of an extortion attack, reported the BBC.

Louise, a former employee of Shiseido, told BBC reporters that cybercriminals contacted her after applying for a loan in her name.

The cosmetics company suffered a data breach in the spring of 2022 that resulted in the exposure of personally identifiable information of former and current employees, including passports, ID documents, and other sensitive data that could let fraudsters open bank accounts or set up a company in the victims’ name.

What happened?

The victim said she saw the first signs of compromise when she began receiving letters from the Companies House about a firm she allegedly set up (and was not aware of) at her home address.

Soon after, Louise explained she was contacted by an individual claiming to be from her bank who asked her about a loan taken in her name.

"They already knew my full name, address and postcode and claimed to be from my bank," she told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours program.

She also said the man sounded very reassuring when querying her about the alleged loan.

"I said 'no, no' and went into panic mode," she told reporters.

"But I knew something was wrong and that I needed to hang up the call."

Before finishing the phone call, the alleged bank representative said they would call back later. Louise acted quickly and called her real bank to check if there was any payment of £3,000 in her bank account while also verifying if they had indeed contacted her earlier.

Of course, Louise’s real bank confirmed that there was indeed £3,000 in her account but no official representative had contacted her earlier.

Later that same day, Louise was once again contacted by the scammer, who told her “'all we need you to do is send that money back and here's the account, send us that money'."

After refusing their request, the fraudster began threatening the victim.

“We know where you live,” he said. “…we are coming for you and we are coming to hurt you and your family if you don't give us this £3,000. We will put naked photos of you online."

Multiple data breach victims were subjected to similar incidents following the breach.

How can you prevent cybercriminals from abusing breached personally identifiable information (PII)

Cybercrooks may use exposed PII to inflict financial and reputational damage. Use a digital identity protection service to help you limit the damage and prevent fraudsters from ruining your credit score or causing you legal issues.

Depending on your location, you can choose between:

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