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Webcertificate.com Data Breach Exposes Customer Info After Extortion

Calendar Oct 11, 2001 • User Avatar Anthony Pell
1 - 2 min read
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Topics Covered

data breach online threats extortion customer information customer accounts hacker email hacked data
An online gift certificate company said a hacker that blackmailed it for weeks after pilfering its customer information has apparently carried out threats of disclosing the data to its customers. Webcertificate.com customers reported getting an e-mail message that included their home and e-mail addresses.. . . An online gift certificate company said a hacker that blackmailed it for weeks after pilfering its customer information has apparently carried out threats of disclosing the data to its customers. Webcertificate.com customers reported getting an e-mail message that included their home and e-mail addresses.

"I hate to inform you that your account has been hacked," said the e-mail, viewed by this reporter, from someone identified as Zilterio.

Webcertificate, a unit of electronic-payment company Ecount, was hacked Aug. 21, a representative said. Shortly afterward, the hacker, who also claimed to have stolen credit card numbers of 350,000 of the company's customers, contacted Philadelphia-based Ecount and tried to extort the company, said Matt Gillin, Ecount's chief executive. The caller demanded $45,000 in exchange for not disclosing the information.

The company refused to meet the demands, Gillin said.

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