Celsius Users Under Phishing Risks as Already Troubled Firm Now Faces Data Breach Scandal

An unnamed employee of Celsius’ social media handler Customer.io accessed a list of Celsius client email addresses and transferred those to a third-party.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 29 July 2022 16:24 IST

Celsius Users Under Phishing Risks as Already Troubled Firm Now Faces Data Breach Scandal

Photo Credit: Facebook/ Celsius Network

Customer.io has terminated the employee who leaked the information

Highlights

Celsius has claimed only users’ email addresses have been leaked
Customer.io has issued an apology
Customer.io has opened a legal case on its now terminated employee

Celsius Network has disclosed to its community that it has suffered a data breach, warning users against threats of phishing attacks. An unnamed employee of Celsius' third-party social media handler Customer.io accessed a list of Celsius client email addresses and transferred those to a third-party. Customer.io handles the market communications for both, Celsius as well as OpenSea. In June, OpenSea also reported a data breach. At the time, Customer.io had informed Celsius that its user data was safe.

After firing the concerned employee, Customer.io conducted internal analysis through the month of July, and later warned Celsius about the data breach incident.

Celsius, the crypto lending firm is now in the process of informing its users about this breach, asking them to be alert and not share sensitive information with unverified strangers.

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It looks like tough days are nowhere near an end for Celsius. The company, struck by the recent crypto slump, has filed for bankruptcy.

As per Celsius, only a list of its client email addresses saved with Customer.io was leaked by the now terminated engineer, and no other information is expected to have become part of the breach.

More fallout from the @CustomerIO insider data breach, this time with @celsiusnetwork email addresses. Apparently 6 different customers have been impacted now, with @opensea being the one that got all the early press. https://t.co/eWkEYJNEXy pic.twitter.com/OPKUmypPbY
— Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) July 28, 2022

pic.twitter.com/hIOxPPPxf7
— db (@tier10k) July 28, 2022

Customer.io has also published a blog post addressing the incident.

“Despite the many precautions taken to protect our customer data, the employee's role enabled specific access to these email addresses. This employee has been terminated, all access has been revoked and we have reported this employee to law enforcement,” the company wrote.

In June, when OpenSea NFT marketplace suffered the data breach, its users had complained about being bombarded with emails that resembled phishing attempts.

My info was breached thanks to OpenSea and Customer io :joy: Lord Jeebus help me. I was wondering why I had so many spammy texts, phone calls, and emails lately. :face_with_rolling_eyes:
— MetzilMazatl ~ SovereignSeraphim.eth :feather::rainbow-flag: (@TheAscendant3) June 30, 2022

1. Don't open content of emails or files sent by strangers.

Especially if it's an APK file, Google extension file or anything claimed to be a "new software update" in the email. Treat the content as malware and they can be used to obtain your data remotely.
— SummerWatch | SummerScan (@summerwatchorg) July 2, 2022

Phishing is a category of cyber-attack in which specific emails are directed at potential victims in an attempt to lure them into clicking malicious links, or download malware to mine or steal their crypto holdings.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Celsius, Phishing, Data Breach, OpenSea

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More