Today's Edition
Allan Jacob (Abu Dhabi)
Leading UAE retailer Landmark Group, on Wednesday, said it is investigating a data breach at Shukran, its 10-million member loyalty programme that gathered information on some of its customers.
The company said names, contact details and dates of birth may have been compromised, but did not reveal how many members were affected.
Debit and credit card details, however, were safe, as the company said it had moved swiftly to thwart the attempt.
In a statement, the company said: “Debit / credit card details and passwords were not affected. We do not store debit / credit card details on our systems and your password is securely protected and is not stored in readable form.”
Points, balance and wallet were also not impacted by the breach. “The Shukran app and loyalty services continue to operate as normal,” it said.
The mega loyalty programme covers over a million products and 57 brands in Landmark Group stores across eight countries.
The company is working with security and cyber authorities who are probing the breach, which it termed as an “incident involving unauthorised access to one of our systems".
“We have also informed the relevant statutory and law enforcement authorities and are actively investigating the matter.” The company has sent SMSes to affected customers about the incident.
“We immediately acted to contain the incident and secure the affected system. Our investigation is ongoing."
Following the incident, customers have been asked to stay alert to unexpected and unverified calls, emails, SMS or WhatsApp messages that mention Landmark, Shukran or its others brands.
They have also been warned not to share passwords, passcodes, banking details or ID with anyone or apps. “Be wary of messages that create urgency, include unexpected links or attachments, or offer unsolicited refunds, prizes or bonus points,” it said.
