16 hours ago
'I felt helpless': Bolton councillor hacked on holiday issues cybersecurity warning
A Bolton councillor has issued a stark warning about online safety after falling victim to a sophisticated cyber attack while on holiday in Spain.
Cllr Andrea Taylor-Burke, who also works as a financial director at Bolton-based tech firm In4tech Ltd, had her personal email and bank accounts compromised while enjoying a break in Benidorm.
What began as a relaxing evening turned into a two-hour fight to regain control of her digital life after she received a series of unexpected notifications.
Cllr Andrea Taylor-Burke had her accounts hacked whilst she was on holiday. (Image: Martini Archive) First, a bank alert for a £28.99 transaction in Canada, followed by password change emails and then a chilling "ransom" message from a hacker claiming full access to her data.
'I have taken control of your email account,' the message read.
'I have access to all of your online accounts and I know your passwords.
'Pay me £500 or I will share your personal details and photos online.'
The hacker was not bluffing.
Within minutes, they had accessed Cllr Taylor-Burke's online subscriptions, catalogue accounts and even began impersonating her in chatrooms.
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They also uploaded a photo of themselves to her profile and gained access to sensitive financial details through her Google Wallet.
'The hacker was very advanced and ultimately telling the truth,' Cllr Taylor-Burke said.
'Not only was he using my bank card, but he was also logging into accounts I have with catalogues and subscriptions to change those passwords.
'He was chatting to people posing as me in chat rooms and all this in under 30 minutes.'
The hacker was able to gain access to Andrea's accounts through Google Wallet. (Image: Martini Archive) Thankfully, her husband, who is an IT professional, had brought his work laptop on holiday and was able to launch what became a two-hour battle to kick the hacker out of her accounts.
Andrea added: 'At the start, as quickly as we changed the passwords, he had them again.
'He had full control of my Google account and was seeing what we were doing.
"This included my Google Wallet, which meant when the new card was issued by my bank this was instantly uploaded…so he was using the new card before I had even received it in the post.'
She said: 'What would have happened if I wasn't married to an IT professional?
"I'd have lost everything, all those precious photos of my babies, holidays, occasions and memories of my late mother.'
Now, she is urging others to take urgent action to secure their digital lives.
Andrea said: 'Workwise we all have extra security with two-step authentication, but like so many others it's easy to neglect your personal accounts.
'Hackers don't just attack big companies, they attack the smaller vulnerable people… those who don't know how to protect themselves or recover.
'What would you have done in my situation if you didn't have a IT professional to hand….pay the £500 ransom or risk losing all your personal details, photos and email accounts.
"Can you risk this happening to you?
'Cybersecurity is so important. Are you secure?'
Earlier this week, the boss of supermarket chain Marks & Spencer has said he hopes to have the majority of the impact from its damaging cyber attack 'behind us' by August.
It comes after M&S was forced to halt online orders after it was targeted by hackers in April.
Customer personal data – which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth – was taken during the attack.
M&S revealed that the hack was caused by 'human error' and would cost it around £300 million.
If you have been the victim of a scam, fraud or online crime (cybercrime) you can report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or on its website.
