Cabot Financial Ireland (Cabot) takes the privacy and security of your information very seriously. Having suffered a security event caused by a criminal cyber-attack in September 2024, we are now fully operational.
We engaged third party forensic experts to determine any customers who may have been impacted and have communicated with customers directly to inform of the potential data stolen and to offer support on how to further protect yourself.
What has Cabot done?
We have done everything we can to minimise any detriment to our impacted customers. When we identified the cyber incident, immediate actions were taken to contain it. We implemented our incident response procedures and informed the Central Bank of Ireland, the Data Protection Commissioners Office and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau. Cabot also obtained a protective order from the Irish Court, which is a significant proactive step to protect anyone impacted. It works in conjunction with scanning of the internet as an ongoing protection and will assist in any further action aimed at recovering any potentially stolen information.
What can I do?
It is important that you have increased awareness around any calls, emails or texts that claim to have been sent by or on behalf of Cabot, or another third party. Be vigilant and careful, even if the caller knows some of your details such as your name and address, account number or date of birth.
We recommend that customers contact us directly if they have been approached by a party they don’t recognise. We understand that an incident like this can be worrying, and we would recommend some additional precautions you can take to protect yourself:
- Be aware of potential phishing emails and telephone calls, particularly those that contain links or talk about fraudulent activity on your bank account or Cabot account
- Never disclose passwords, credit or debit PIN numbers to any individual. Cabot will never ask you for these details
- Monitor your bank account closely for any unusual or unexplained activity
- Do not click on any links or open any attachments that you have not been able to validate the source of
- Never divulge personal information until you have confirmed that a caller is a genuine representative of the organisation
- If you are in any doubt about a communication stating to be from or on behalf of Cabot, do not respond. You should hang up and contact us directly to confirm the authenticity of the communication using the contact details below, which are also available on our website
- Do not validate the identity of a caller by calling a phone number they have given you on a call (this could be a fake number) or call back a number you do not recognise. If the caller is genuine, they will understand and welcome your need to be certain who they are.
- Change your online passwords regularly and keep passwords secure and private. Use complex combinations of letters, symbols and numbers. Use different password for different online accounts
- For further helpful information on how to protect yourself, we recommend that you consider and follow the guidance of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau and the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland about how to protect yourself from fraud. This guidance can be found on the websites of each organisation and on the Fraud Smart website for the Banking and Payments Federation (https://www.fraudsmart.ie/).
What if I have questions?
Customers can contact us with any questions. Click here for how to contact us: https://www.cabotfinancial.ie/contact/