Pocket Bitcoin Reports Customer Data Breach Affecting Over 5,000 People

Key Points of This Article

• 291 personal identification documents leaked
• 5,120 remittance records leaked

Expansion of Customer Data Breach

Pocket Bitcoin announced the results of its investigation into a security incident on August 31, following its initial announcement on August 21, and provided an update on September 3. The investigation revealed that the information of 5,411 customers had been leaked.

Pocket Bitcoin is a Swiss-licensed company that directly sends purchased Bitcoin to users' wallets, without holding customers' assets.

The investigation was divided into two groups. The communication data for identity verification and proof of funds sent to partner banks was leaked for 291 individuals, which included names, mailing addresses, Bitcoin addresses used in transactions, copies of identification documents, and documents related to the source of funds.

The other group consisted of 5,120 individuals whose transaction lists sent to Pocket Bitcoin by partner banks for compliance verification were leaked. This included names and addresses, as well as the amounts and dates of individual bank transfers. For some customers, the international bank account numbers of the sending accounts were also included. Individual emails detailing the leaked information are being sent to the affected individuals sequentially.

Impact of the Leaked Data

Initially, it was stated that there was no breach of the customer database containing Bitcoin (BTC) addresses or KYC data, nor the transaction history database itself.

The company clarified that while these systems were not compromised, some types of relevant data were found in communication records stored by the support department, linking names with Bitcoin addresses and names with remittance details.

The company has not confirmed any signs of misuse of the leaked data at this time. However, it warned that the leakage of real information such as names, addresses, and past remittance details could make fake communications, such as emails, appear more credible than before.