Cyber-Attack Spreads Phishing Scam Across Greater Manchester Areas

A cyber-attack has hit several boroughs across Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in Northwest England, leaving thousands of residents vulnerable to a phishing scam.

The attack initially targeted one Greater Manchester borough before spreading across several areas. It has also led to thousands of users being sent a phishing email asking them to ‘activate your tenancy options’ and hand over personal data.

It was first identified on July 29 by Locata, a housing software provider running housing portals for councils across the UK.

“We identified an IT security incident which impacted a small number of public facing websites which Locata Housing Services run on behalf of local authorities,” the firm said in a statement obtained by several media outlets.

A few days later, the firm suspended the housing websites for the Manchester, Salford, and Bolton councils.

“We moved quickly to manage the issue and, working with third-party IT experts are investigating the matter. […] We would like to apologize for what has happened,” the firm added.

Local and National Authorities Aware of the Attack

Locata also informed the local authorities, which confirmed they were “aware” of the attack and scam.

A Manchester City Council spokesperson told local media that the phishing site has already been removed, so the link in the scam email no longer works.

The council has also referred the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator.

Manchester Move Hit by the Breach

Manchester Move, a council-run online platform used by people looking for social housing in Manchester, was impacted by the cyber-attack.

However, the Manchester City Council spokesperson said that only the publicly accessible part of the website was affected by the breach, meaning a “small amount of personal information” was compromised.

At the time of writing, the Manchester Move website is inaccessible and a maintenance message is shown instead.

The message acknowledges the breach and the phishing scam sent to its residents. It states, “Manchester Move would never request personal information using a link but if you think you might have clicked on something or given personal information away, please follow the steps below.”

The mentioned mitigation steps follow the UK National Cyber Security Centre guidance.

“The website will remain offline until we are confident that the personal information of people using the website is safe,” the message added.

Salford Council’s Recommendations for Potential Victims

The Salford council, one of the attack’s targets, also provided a list of recommendations for residents who might have clicked on the phishing link.

These include:

• Monitoring their bank account for any suspicious activity
• Contacting their bank immediately
• Reporting any fraudulent transaction to Action Fraud immediately
• Changing their passwords if you have any other accounts with the same password as your Salford Home Search Account
• Considering signing up for a free credit report

Photo credit: Bardhok Ndoji/Shutterstock