No link between global security breach and Singapore user getting charged $1.3k for rides: Uber

Uber said on Nov 22 that there is no link between a Singaporean customer being fraudulently charged more than $1,300 for rides recently, and a massive worldwide security breach of its platform last year.

An Uber Singapore spokesman said to The Straits Times that it has "no reason to believe" the two events are related because during last year's incident, its corporate systems or infrastructure had not been breached.

The spokesman added: "Our outside forensics experts have not seen any indication that trip location history, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, NRIC (number) or dates of birth were downloaded."

News broke on Nov 21 that Uber had covered up a security breach in October 2016 where the personal information of about 57 million accounts on the ride-hailing platform had been exposed.

Bloomberg News first reported on the controversy which involved the company paying hackers US$100,000 ($135,000) to keep the breach under wraps.

Separately, Stomp reported on Uber customer Jenna Lim's Facebook post where she shared how she had been charged over $1,300 by Uber over a five-day period from Nov 13 to 17.

She wrote: "I believe someone from the US hacked into Uber's security system and attained my bank account info."

In response to Stomp's media queries, a spokesman from Uber Singapore said that Jenna's case has been resolved.

"We would like to assure the public that payment information is encrypted when you enter it into the Uber app," the spokesman said.

When The Straits Times asked if any Singapore users were affected by the October 2016 global security breach, the spokesman said: 

"We are in the process of notifying various regulatory and government authorities and we expect to have ongoing discussions with them.

"Until we complete that process we aren't in a position to get into any more details."

The Personal Data Protection Commission said it is aware of the breach and is in touch with Uber to get more details.

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