Children’s charity The Smith Family is the latest victim of cyber hackers

The Smith Family, which helps disadvantaged kids succeed through education, is the latest target of cyber hackers in the wake of attacks on Optus, MediBank and other Australian corporates.

The national charity believes the primary motive of the attack was an attempt to steal funds, but the hackers were unsuccessful. However, the personal information of donors “may have been accessed”, including names; phone number, address and/or email address; information about whether a donation payment was processed successfully or declined and the donation amount; and in some instances, first and last four digits of the credit or debit card used to donate.

The Smith Family CEO Doug Taylor said no middle digits, expiry date or CVV numbers were accessed as The Smith Family does not store that information in its systems.

“We apologise for any concern or stress that this incident may have caused. We’re contacting every single donor and sponsor about the incident, whether their information may have been accessed or not,” he said.

“We’re reaching out to our individual supporters so they can take steps to protect their information and avoid potential scams.”

Taylor said they acted immediately to secure the company’s systems and strengthen them, adding the data accessed in itself cannot be used to make fraudulent purchases.

“While there is no current evidence of misuse of any individual supporter’s personal information, we understand that this incident may cause concern. We will continue to keep our donors and sponsors informed and to communicate transparently,” he said.

“We thank our donors and sponsors for their ongoing support and understanding. We remain committed to the delivery of The Smith Family programs to support the education of young Australians in need.”

Anyone concerned about the incident and how they may have been affected, can contact the charity on support[at]thesmithfamily.com.au