Ricardo data breach affects 890,000 user accounts

The Swiss online marketplace Ricardo has experienced a significant data breach involving approximately 890,000 user accounts. Unauthorized individuals accessed names, postal addresses, and telephone numbers. For business customers, the breach also included company names and email addresses.

SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, the parent company of Ricardo, reported that suspicious server activity was detected on October 7. The security vulnerability was closed by October 9. According to Ricardo CEO Francesco Vass, passwords and email addresses remained protected and were not part of the data leak. No ransom demands or extortion attempts have been reported by the company so far.

Following the breach, cybercriminals have utilized the stolen information to launch targeted phishing attacks via WhatsApp. These fraudulent messages use authentic personal details to gain trust and direct users to fake websites. The attackers often use profiles such as ‘Ricardo Help Center’ to solicit sensitive financial information, including credit card details, bank logins, or Twint data. Ricardo has warned that it never contacts customers via email, SMS, or WhatsApp to request personal or transaction data.