Canadian Bought Details of 650,000 Paddy Power Customers from Maltese Hacker

Canadian “data broker” Jason Ferguson is under investigation for attempting to sell data stolen from Paddy Power.

Jason Ferguson of Canada is currently under and ongoing investigation after he tried to resell the personal data of 650,000 Paddy Power customers for a price of €7,600. The incident is the most high-profile case of internet gambling hacking in recent memory.

The database of the online sportsbook in Ireland was accessed by an unknown hacker then sold to Ferguson by an unknown person in Malta, according to him.

The hacked file contains the names, email addresses, emails and birthdates of 120,000 Irish customers and 650,000 overall. It is believed that none of the data includes sensitive financial information.

Ferguson did not commit a crime

Ferguson bought the data without intending to steal information, claiming that he believed to have purchased it legally for marketing purposes. He told the following to a Bloomberg journalist: “I thought I was acting within the realm of legality… Is it ethical? Should I have had the data? To my knowledge, there’s no precedent.”

The bookmaker, which offers popular online and mobile betting services on a variety of sporting events, has assured the public that no one’s finances are at risk and that the data breach did not affect any customers having made accounts after 2010.