Payday lender Wonga has advised 270,000 customers of a data breach and offered inconsistent advice about the severity of the incident and how to respond.

 

An “incident FAQ” on the company's site says “We believe there may have been illegal and unauthorized access to the personal data of some of our customers.” The Reg understands 270,000 customers are potentially at risk, 245,000 of them in the UK.

 

Wonga says the data that parties unknown have accessed “may have included one or more of the following: name, e-mail address, home address, phone number, the last four digits of your card number (but not the whole number) and/or your bank account number and sort code.”

 

The FAQ offers contradictory advice on the incident, offering assurances that “We believe that your account is secure and you do not need to take any action" but also says “if you are concerned you should change your account password. We also recommend that you look out for any unusual activity across any bank accounts and online portals.”

 

The FAQ, and a letter sent to affected customers, also offers the following advice:

 

 

The Register has asked Wonga to clarify why customers need to keep an eye on “unusual activity” if their accounts remain secure and why they might experience inbound scam calls at this time.

 

Wonga says it is informing customers' banks of the situation, to help them detect any fraud.

 

The FAQ also asks the question “How did this happen in the first place and what measures are you taking to ensure that this does not re-occur?” and offers the following as a response:

 

·        We take issues of customer data and security extremely seriously.

·        Cyber attacks are, unfortunately, on the rise. While Wonga operates to the highest security standards, these illegal attacks are unfortunately increasingly sophisticated.

·        We sincerely apologies for the inconvenience and concern this has caused.

·        Which The Register rates a masterpiece of evasion and obfuscation, even among the deluges of press releases and non-answers we receive each day.

 

Wonga charges annual interest rates of 1,509 per cent (yes, one thousand five hundred and nine per cent) for short-term loans designed to tide people over until payday. The company justifies its interest rates on grounds of convenience and value.

 

The PR people have made contact again hours after this article was published:

 

"Wonga is urgently investigating illegal and unauthorized access to the personal data of some of its customers in the UK and Poland. We are working closely with authorities and we are in the process of informing affected customers. We sincerely apologies for the inconvenience caused." ®

 

“Hong Kong contributed 83,830 to the total 12,023,971 foreign tourists who visited Indonesia in 2016,” said the ministry's deputy minister for Overseas Promotion, I Gde Pitana.

 

At this year’s ITE, Indonesia's booth will be designed to resemble a phinisi (the traditional two-masted sailing ship of the South Sulawesi Bugis people) to highlight the archipelago's charecter as a maritime nation consisting of more than 17,000 exotic islands.

 

“[Indonesia will also present] traditional dance performances, Indonesian dishes and coffee at the booth,” said the ministry's deputy assistant for Asia-Pacific Tourism Promotion, Vinsensius Jemadu.

 

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, Indonesia welcomed 20,074 tourists from Hong Kong between January and March this year; an 11.9 percent increase from 2016.

 

As part of this year's target to attract 15 million foreign tourists, the government is seeking to lure up to 2,453,000 tourists from Greater China, including 132,000 from Hong Kong.

 

“Hong Kong is a very strategic market for the Wonderful Indonesia [tourism brand].  60.8 million tourists visit Hong Kong per year, 60 percent of which are from mainland China,” said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

 

Hong Kong is also near Macau, which welcomes 35 million tourists a year, most of whom are also from mainland China.

 

The ministry is currently supporting the opening of more direct flights from Hong Kong to Jakarta, Denpasar and other cities.

 

“The percentage of direct flights to Indonesia is only 37 percent, while the remaining 63 percent are transit flights that make a stop in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong. Our accessibility is still low in comparison to Thailand and Malaysia that have an average of 80 percent direct flights. This technical issue is what we’re going to pursue in Hong Kong,” added Arief. (kes)