F1 News
Thousands of Belgian Grand Prix customers victim of hack
- Ludo van Denderen
Many (former) visitors to the Grand Prix in Belgium received an email last weekend, supposedly from the Spa Grand Prix organisers, informing them that they would receive a gift voucher worth 50 euros. It now turns out that the emails are fake and came from hackers. The race organisers in the Ardennes advise recipients not to click on the links in them.
Spa Grand Prix's website was recently hacked, stealing the email addresses of an unknown number of customers. Spa Grand Prix did not immediately report the hack. Only after customers received one or more fake emails did the Belgian Grand Prix organisation send its own.
Response from Spa Grand Prix
This email says: "It has come to our attention that since this morning a fraudulent e-mail has been sent inviting you to click on a link supposedly intended to enable you to receive a €50 gift voucher.This is an attempt at phishing.We strongly advise you not to click on this link.In general, we invite you to be extremely careful when you are asked for your personal details (particularly bank details).In any circumstances, SPA GP will never ask for confidential information by e-mail in order to obtain a gift of any kind."
According to broadcaster RTBF, several people clicked on the email anyway and may have passed on their bank details. They are encouraged to report to Spa Grand Prix.
This is what the fake email looks like: