Foreign currency service Travelex said today that it has taken all its sites offline after being attacked by a software virus on New Year's Eve.The group said it first discovered the attack on December 31 and immediately took its systems offline to protect data and prevent the virus spreading.It has since been forced to provide foreign exchange services manually in its branches. Many holidaymakers are currently abroad for the Christmas holidays and some have been left unable to top up their Travelex Money Cards, which are available in seven different currencies. Errol Le Boydre, who is visiting Paris from Australia over the New Year period, told the MailOnline he spent two days waiting in limbo, not knowing whether his transaction of £318 ($600 AUD) had gone through. 'Disappointed to only find out the full extent over the last hour when we have asked for assistance 2 days ago,' he said. Despite trying to speak to someone on the 31st, after receiving no word for two days he had to physically visit a Travelex office in Paris on Thursday to confirm that his money was safe. Even then the 'staff member was none the wiser and couldn't access our transaction history', he said. It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that someone contacted him through Twitter and advised him to call a number. Despite the inconvenience of not knowing whether the money had gone through, Le Boydre had alternative funds so wasn't left 'high and dry'.'I’m sure you’ll have some stories of ppl who will be going through a tough time right now,' he added. One Twitter user who didn't have a safety net wrote: ‘I’m stranded in Athens with 3 euros left on my Travelex card because both your website and app reloads don’t work. This seems to be an issues you have been aware of for at least six hours.’ Travelex has been pointing customers to a website called Cash Passport to top up their cards instead.Tony D'Souza, chief executive of Travelex, said: 'We regret having to suspend some of our services in order to contain the virus and protect data.'We apologise to all our customers for any inconvenience caused as a result.'We are doing all we can to restore our full services as soon as possible.' Travelex said it has drafted in teams of IT specialists and external cyber security experts to isolate the virus and get affected systems back online. Share this article Share It comes as many holidaymakers are abroad for the Christmas holidays.Travelex was at the centre of an IT crisis nearly two years ago, when it mistakenly leaked data on thousands of customers of partner Tesco Bank.The group, which provided foreign currency on behalf of Tesco Bank, shared the customer database by mistake in March 2018, exposing the details of 17,000 people, including full names, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses and the final digits of bank cards.The company told customers on Twitter earlier today: 'We're currently having IT issues and are extremely sorry for any inconvenience. 'At this stage, we're
Foreign currency service Travelex takes all its sites offline
Foreign currency service Travelex said today that it has taken all its sites offline after being attacked by a software virus on New Year's Eve.The group said it first discovered the attack on December 31 and immediately took its systems offline to protect data and prevent the virus spreading.It has since been forced to provide foreign exchange services manually in its branches. Many holidaymakers are currently abroad for the Christmas holidays and some have been left unable to top up their Travelex Money Cards, which are available in seven different currencies. Errol Le Boydre, who is visiting Paris from Australia over the New Year period, told the MailOnline he spent two days waiting in limbo, not knowing whether his transaction of £318 ($600 AUD) had gone through. 'Disappointed to only find out the full extent over the last hour when we have asked for assistance 2 days ago,' he said. Despite trying to speak to someone on the 31st, after receiving no word for two days he had to physically visit a Travelex office in Paris on Thursday to confirm that his money was safe. Even then the 'staff member was none the wiser and couldn't access our transaction history', he said. It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that someone contacted him through Twitter and advised him to call a number. Despite the inconvenience of not knowing whether the money had gone through, Le Boydre had alternative funds so wasn't left 'high and dry'.'I’m sure you’ll have some stories of ppl who will be going through a tough time right now,' he added. One Twitter user who didn't have a safety net wrote: ‘I’m stranded in Athens with 3 euros left on my Travelex card because both your website and app reloads don’t work. This seems to be an issues you have been aware of for at least six hours.’ Travelex has been pointing customers to a website called Cash Passport to top up their cards instead.Tony D'Souza, chief executive of Travelex, said: 'We regret having to suspend some of our services in order to contain the virus and protect data.'We apologise to all our customers for any inconvenience caused as a result.'We are doing all we can to restore our full services as soon as possible.' Travelex said it has drafted in teams of IT specialists and external cyber security experts to isolate the virus and get affected systems back online. Share this article Share It comes as many holidaymakers are abroad for the Christmas holidays.Travelex was at the centre of an IT crisis nearly two years ago, when it mistakenly leaked data on thousands of customers of partner Tesco Bank.The group, which provided foreign currency on behalf of Tesco Bank, shared the customer database by mistake in March 2018, exposing the details of 17,000 people, including full names, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses and the final digits of bank cards.The company told customers on Twitter earlier today: 'We're currently having IT issues and are extremely sorry for any inconvenience. 'At this stage, we're
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