iTWire received an email just a few minutes ago detailing the information currently available. We are providing the communication as-is and will update with additional news as it becomes available.

Dear David,

We have become aware that some of our customer information may have been compromised. We are still investigating this but we wanted to be proactive and warn you that there is a chance that this has occurred. For now, we advise you to be vigilant and monitor your accounts for any unauthorised activity, and as a precaution change your password. We will update you as soon as we have more information to share.

In the meantime, there’s further detailed information below and advice on steps you can take to protect your data.

Best wishes

Mark Newman

Managing Director

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION ABOUT DYMOCKS PRIVACY INCIDENT AND YOUR INFORMATION

What has happened and what steps have we taken?

On 6 September 2023, Dymocks* became aware that an unauthorised party may have access to some of our customer records (Incident).

As soon as we became aware of the Incident, we, together with our cybersecurity advisers, launched an investigation to assess what happened.

While our investigation is ongoing and at the early stages, our cybersecurity experts have found evidence of discussions regarding our customer records being available on the dark web.

At this stage it is unclear which customers may be impacted. We are letting everyone know as soon as possible because the Incident may affect customer records and we are committed to being open and transparent.

While we do not know which customers have been impacted at this stage or what has occurred, this notice outlines the steps we recommend all customers should consider taking to protect themselves. It also confirms the support we are providing. As more information becomes available, we will provide updated guidance.

What kinds of information have been impacted?

While our investigation is ongoing, based on information to date the information impacted may relate to records we hold. Your customer record may include the following kinds of information, if you provided this to us:

· date of birth

· postal address

· email address

· mobile number

· gender

· membership details such as your gold expiry date, account status, member created date and card ranking.

As we never hold or store customer financial information this information would not be in the customer data.

What should you do?

Given the information may be on the dark web and this can be used by cyber criminals to commit fraud and other scams, we recommend you consider taking the following precautionary steps to protect yourself:

1. change your passwords for your online accounts including for your Dymocks account, social media and other online accounts (and otherwise ensure that you have sufficiently complex passwords);

2. monitor your bank statements for any suspicious activity (including in relation to your Booklovers account);

3. be alert for any phishing scams that may come to you by phone, post or email. These are emails pretending to be from a reputable company but are not actually sent by that company;

4. ensure that you have up-to-date anti-virus software and any recommended software patches installed on your computer systems;

5. visit Scamwatch to keep up with current scam trends; and

6. read further information about staying safe online at:

- the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website; and

- the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s website.

Support we are offering and next steps

We understand the importance that you place on keeping your personal information safe and secure. Rest assured that we are working hard to understand what has happened with the support of our cybersecurity advisers.

We will continue to undertake a thorough investigation of the Incident in accordance with the applicable laws. We will continue to keep you informed because we take the security of your personal information seriously and we are committed to being open and transparent.

We are sorry this has occurred and understand that you may have more questions. If you have any questions, you can contact our customer support team on:

- 1800 849 096 between 9am and 5pm AEST; and
- Email: help@dymocks.com.au.