Millions of Latitude customers affected by cyberattacks could receive payments from potential class action lawsuits

Millions of Latitude customers whose sensitive information was leaked during a cyberattack could be eligible for payments from a potential class action lawsuit.

The consumer finance firm announced earlier this week that 14 million Australian and New Zealand customers were at risk after hackers stole personal records from its systems.

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The attack, discovered earlier this month, stole 7.9 million driver’s licenses, about 53,000 passport numbers and another 6.1 million records, including names, addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.

Now Australian firm Hayden Stephens and Associates has launched an investigation that could lead to a class action lawsuit against the company.

Lawyers will investigate how the breach happened and whether the company did enough to protect customers’ personal information.

CEO Hayden Stephens told Sunrise it was “probable” that the data breach could have been avoided.

“An essential part of our investigation is to obtain answers to these questions. How did this happen and what damage has followed?” he said.

Stephens added that anyone who experienced “distress or anxiety” as a result of the hack or “has evidence their data was used in an inappropriate way” could be eligible for a payout.

“But that’s why the investigation is important…to hear stories from consumers about their experiences with the Latitude data hack,” he said.

Stephens urged all customers who feel impacted to register on the Latitude Financial Data Breach Investigation website.

Meanwhile, Latitude said Wednesday its review uncovered “further evidence of large-scale information theft affecting customers (past and present) and applicants across Australia and New Zealand.”

Its teams were working “urgently” to determine the total number of customers and applicants affected and the nature of the personal information stolen, Latitude said.

The Company provides services to customers from a number of high profile retailers including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Harvey Norman and Apple.

– With AAP