Nissan Canada Finance began notifying its customers in mid-December that it is a victim of a data breach, which may have involved unauthorized persons gaining access to the personal information of some Canadian customers that have financed their vehicles through the lender and Infiniti Financial Services Canada.
Mississauga, Ontario-based Nissan Canada Finance became aware of the unauthorized access to personal information on Dec. 11. The breach may have impacted the following types of information for some customers: customer name, address, vehicle make and model, vehicle identification number, credit score, loan amount, and monthly payment, according to a company press release.
“We are still investigating exactly what personal information has been impacted,” Nissan Canada Finance said in the release. The precise number of affected customers is not yet known, but the lender is contacting all 1.1 million current and former customers who have financed their vehicles through either lender.
“At this time, there is no indication that customers who financed vehicles outside of Canada are affected,” according to the release. “In addition, no payment card information was affected.”
This comes at a time when auto lending fraud is at an all-time high. Separately, last September Equifax was involved in what many consider as one of the largest security breaches in history. As part of the breach, 143 million American Social Security numbers and other sensitive data were hacked.
Nissan Canada Finance noted in the release it is taking “prompt action” to notify potentially affected customers, and it will offer those customers 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring services through TransUnion. Customers may obtain more information by visiting www.nissancanadafinance.ca/securitynotice.
Additionally, the lender has contacted Canadian privacy regulators, law enforcement, and leading data security experts to help investigate the matter.
“We sincerely apologize to the customers whose personal information may have been illegally accessed and for any frustration or inconvenience that this may cause,” Alain Ballu, president of Nissan Canada Finance, said in the release. “We are focused on supporting our customers and ensuring the security of our systems.”
