Amazon ‘technical error’ exposed customer names, email addresses
Amazon exposed the names and email addresses of some customers due to a “technical error,” the company said on Wednesday.
“We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been impacted,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement, according to Fox Business.
{mosads}Those whose information was compromised received an email from Amazon on Wednesday morning, alerting them the company had “inadvertently” disclosed their email address.
“We’re contacting you to let you know that our website inadvertently disclosed your email address due to a technical error,” the email reads, according to screenshots posted by multiple customers. “This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for you to change your password or take any other action.”
Woke up to this email from Amazon. Cool…thanks for the technical error. “There is no need for you to change your password or take any other action.” Well @AmazonHelp I’m changing my password anyway. #Amazon #AmazonEmail #TechnicalError pic.twitter.com/OAheQ4MPLD
— A.C. Junior (@OfficialMisterC) November 21, 2018
A company spokesperson told The Hill that the exposure was not due to hacking or a security breach.
Amazon declined to say how many customers were affected or how long the information was exposed. The company also did not say where the information was made available.
Even if the customers’ email addresses were revealed for a short time, they could still be subject to phishing attacks and scams.
The error took place just days before two of the busiest shopping days of the year — Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Updated at 1:42 p.m.
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