Hacker claims theft of India’s Samco account data

A hacker claims to be selling user records associated with Indian online brokerage firm Samco Securities, one of the widely-used platforms offering discount broking trading accounts for the country’s stock exchanges.

The pseudonymous hacker listed the data allegedly breached from Samco on a known cybercrime forum, which they are selling for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch was given a sample of the allegedly stolen data, which we have verified as matching customers’ personal data.

The sample of data contained the personally identifiable information of more than 3,000 account holders, including each users’ full name, date of birth, mobile number, email address, and the individual’s government-issued permanent account number, or PAN ID.

When reached for comment, Samco told TechCrunch that there are no internal indications or reports of any data breach or leakage.

“As a precautionary measure, our cybersecurity team is conducting a comprehensive review to ensure the integrity and security of our systems. We have stringent data protection protocols in place and continuously monitor our systems for any potential vulnerabilities or breaches. Should any issues be discovered during our review, we will take immediate and appropriate action,” Manashvi Thakur, compliance officer at Samco Securities, told TechCrunch in an email.

Founded in March 2015, Samco provides a flat-fee brokerage and investment platform for investing in equities, futures and options, commodities and currencies.

The firm has trading apps across Android and iOS platforms, with millions of downloads.