Major Telecom Company Hacked

If you're a Bell Canada customer, there's a chance an authorized source has obtained your personal information.

On May 15, Bell Canada announced that an anonymous hacker illegally accessed private customer information. Bell says its investigation determined that the information contained a total of approximately 1.9 million active email addresses and approximately 1,700 names and active phone numbers.

While that may be alarming, the company said there's no indication that any financial, password or other sensitive personal information was accessed.

"We apologize to Bell customers for this situation and are contacting all those affected," Bell said in a statement. "Please note that if your email address information was accessed, Bell will contact you by email. If your phone number was accessed, we will contact you by phone. If you haven’t been contacted by end of day May 16, your information was not accessed.

Bell says it's been working closely with the RCMP cyber crime unit in its investigation and has informed the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. It also said that this incident is not connected to the recent global WannaCry malware attacks.

Although the company says there is minimal risk involved for those affected by the situation, it is advising that customers take appropriate precautions.

Bell is asking customers to remember that the company will never ask customers for credit card or other personal information by e-mail. It's also advising people to be cautious of unsolicited or suspicious communications asking for any personal information or that refer users to websites that may ask for personal information.

The company also says customers should avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown email addresses.