ELECTRIC IRELAND HAS warned customers that thousands of accounts may have been compromised.

An employee from a third-party company working on behalf of the energy provider is understood to have accessed around 8,000 accounts, sparking fears of misuse of customer’s personal and financial information.

The information accessed may include one’s name, phone number, date of birth, bank account details and IBAN.

An Garda Síochána and the Data Protection Commissioner are involved in Electric Ireland’s investigation of the breaches.

A spokesperson for Electric Ireland said that it is aware of a “small portion” of its 1.1 million customers who may have had their information accessed inappropriately. 

The company has written to all potentially impacted customers to make them aware of the issue and provide advice and instructions on what actions to take to mitigate against the risk of potential financial fraud.

Customers who have not received a letter from Electric Ireland do not need to take any action.  

“Electric Ireland fully appreciates the gravity of this issue and the concern and inconvenience it will create for those affected customers,” they said.

“Customers affected by this issue, who may have experienced any fraudulent activity on their financial accounts in relation to data they gave to Electric Ireland, have been asked to contact the company directly. Electric Ireland will inform An Garda Síochána who are managing this investigation.”

Notified customers are also advised to contact their bank.