VOCAT leaks hundreds of victims’ email addresses under the supervision of administrators

VOCAT leaks hundreds of victims’ email addresses under the supervision of administrators

An administrative error saw hundreds of Australian crime victims’ email addresses leaked in an email.

On Thursday last week, the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT), a Victorian agency that provides financial support to victims of crime, sent out an email informing recipients of some administrative changes.

However, all recipients’ email addresses were visible to all other recipients.

Accordingly The ABC Whoever originally reported the incident, 480 email addresses were visible in the email, including many with first and last names.

The publication also mentioned two recall emails in which VOCAT apologized for the issue and said it was working on recalling the email.

“This email was sent in error and we apologize,” one email said.

“We are working to recall and contain the message. Please ignore and delete the previous email.”

Cyber ​​Daily contacted VOCAT regarding the incident, after which a Court Services Victoria spokesperson confirmed the incident was an accident.

“On Thursday afternoon, several email addresses of people who had previously contacted the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) were inadvertently shared between recipients after an email was sent in error,” the spokesperson said.

“The email was a general update about procedural changes and did not contain any confidential information.”

While the email was recalled, VOCAT said some recipients opened the email and therefore had access to other recipients’ email addresses.

“All those affected have been contacted and VOCAT apologizes unreservedly for the error. VOCAT is examining measures to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.

“VOCAT recognizes the distress that unauthorized sharing of email addresses can cause and offers support to all involved.

“Any email recipients who may feel concerned are asked to call the Crime Victims Helpline on 1800 819 817 for information, advice and support. Additional support arrangements are currently being finalized and further details will be communicated to affected individuals shortly.”