Personal Information Leak: Giant Tiger customer data was hacked

Giant Tiger store customers' personal data was compromised during a “security incident” believed to be linked to one of its suppliers, according to the retailer.

“Following an incident that occurred at one of Giant Tiger's technology service providers, […] The department store chain indicated on its website on Monday morning that a security incident affecting personal information had occurred recently, without revealing the name of the service provider in question.

The low-cost retailer was informed of the breach on March 4, and claims that it immediately launched an investigation that made it possible to confirm about ten days later that the personal information of its customers had indeed been affected. This event has also been reported to the Information and Privacy Commissioners.

Affected information includes customer names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. “However, no payment information or passwords were affected,” Alison Scarlett, a spokeswoman for the channel, said in an email.

“The incident did not impact any Giant Tiger systems or applications, and there is no indication that personal information was misused,” it added.

Over the next few days, Giant Tiger will be sending an email to people affected by the information leak.

In the meantime, customers should “be careful” when receiving emails, mail, texts or calls that “appear to be coming from Giant Tiger,” as scammers may use schemes to show that their phishing attempt is coming from a legitimate sender.

“Be especially careful when asked to provide your personal information, payment information or password. Under no circumstances will Giant Tiger ask you to provide your payment information or password.