The Online Stores For Several Independent Labels Have Been Hacked

Beggars Group confirmed the data breach.

July 19, 2016
The Online Stores For Several Independent Labels Have Been Hacked Photo via beggars.com

The organization of independent labels known as Beggars Group, which handles 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade Records, XL Recordings, Young Turks and more, have suffered a hacking and data breach of their online stores.

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In a letter obtained by Pitchfork, Beggars wrote to their U.S. distributor Matador Direct last week that credit card numbers and other personal information may have been compromised for customers who placed an online order with their affiliated labels between April 28, 2015 and May 4, 2016. Matador president and co-owner Patrick Amory, who wrote the letter, described the incident in detail:

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“On May 4, 2016, we were advised by our third-party website developer that it had identified and removed suspicious files from the e-commerce websites of the record labels for which Matador Direct is the distributor. We quickly began an investigation and hired a third-party cybersecurity firm to assist us. Findings from the investigation show that if a customer attempted to or did place an order on one of the affected websites from April 28, 2016 to May 4, 2016, information associated with the order being placed, including the customer’s name, address, phone number, email address, payment card number, expiration date and security code (CVV), and account password for the website on which the customer placed an order, may have been obtained by an unauthorized third-party.”

A spokesperson for Beggars Group acknowledged the breach in a statement to Pitchfork, but did not comment on how many customers may have been affected. “Matador Direct identified and addressed a data security incident that potentially affected orders placed or attempted to be placed from April 28, 2015 to May 4, 2016 on the e-commerce sites operated by Matador Direct. Customers who have questions may contact our dedicated call center at (877) 218-0056, Monday through Friday, from 9 A.M. to 7 P.M. EST and provide reference number 7631070716 when calling.”

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The Online Stores For Several Independent Labels Have Been Hacked