Fashion marketplace Vinted will compensate customers who were victims of fraud through the platform last week, the company has confirmed to the AIM Group.
France-based newspaper The Parisian reported that hundreds of users had had their electronic wallets plundered by hackers, who had acquired data illicitly through a request that users change their contact details on the platform, via SMS or phone call.
“Last week, we experienced an incident in which some member accounts were accessed fraudulently. Log-in credentials (such as log-in identities, passwords) used had been obtained from data accessed elsewhere and unrelated to Vinted (this is known as ‘credential stuffing’). This issue was already contained by Friday last week,” a Vinted spokesperson told the AIM Group.
“As part of a range of measures to contain this, we blocked access to affected accounts, and are now in the process of contacting affected members to advise them on how to restore their accounts and provide information on account and password safety. We can confirm they will be eligible for compensation in case of funds lost from their Vinted wallet. In addition, we can confirm that if accessed, credit card details are not visible in full. We would like to reassure our members that we take safety and security incredibly seriously, and that our security teams are constantly working hard to detect and mitigate new patterns of fraudulent activity.”
The company added that it would continue to focus on its members and would not comment further at this stage.
It is not known exactly how many customers were affected, nor in which countries they are located. Vinted is operational in Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, the U.K., Italy, Portugal, the U.S., Canada and Sweden.
Vinted was founded in Vilnius by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas.
In May 2021, the company closed an all-equity investment round at a valuation of $4.5 billion U.S. In addition to EQT, Vinted investors include Accel, Burda Principal Investments, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sprints Capital.
This article has been updated to include comment from Vinted.