Nearly 1,300 customers affected by Canada Computers data breach, company

Canada Computers & Electronics continues to investigate a data breach affecting hundreds of people that has left customers frustrated over how the company handled the episode and communicated about it.

“This is something that shouldn’t have happened,” said Eric Pimentel, an IT professional who cancelled a credit card after being warned by the company that he’d potentially been affected — and was later told he was not.

Toronto’s Brad Seward likewise cancelled a card after getting a notification from Canada Computers, before he was advised that he had not been affected.

“It really sounds like this company is all over the place,” Seward said via email.

Canada Computers told CBC News on Tuesday that its “current investigation indicates this incident affected 1,284 customers.”

The Richmond Hill, Ont.,-headquartered retailer previously stated that, on Jan. 22, it learned of a data breach incident involving “unauthorized access to the system supporting our retail website,” which left personal customer information — including credit card information — compromised.

Canada Computers says it took immediate steps to contain the breach. It also notified authorities and launched an investigation. Affected customers were alerted on Jan. 25.

The breach has been reported to the federal privacy watchdog as well as to police in York Region.

Pimentel and Seward are among a half-dozen customers who told CBC News they received notification from the company about the breach and were then subsequently told that was not correct.

The company confirms it sent messaging of this nature out and says it apologizes for the confusion.

“This was a miscommunication,” the company said Tuesday. “Canada Computers sent the original notice to both affected customers and to some who were not impacted. We followed up with [the latter] to confirm that their customer information was not affected.”

The company did not say how many people had received this follow-up messaging.

Breach affected ‘guests’ only, company says

According to the company, the breach affected customers who checked out their purchases as “guests” on its website, and who also entered their personal information, between Dec. 29 and Jan. 22.

Pimentel said he did not check out as a guest. But the company’s explanation has not left him feeling more secure.

“I don’t feel confident at all,” he said, adding that he expects more transparency from a retailer as big as Canada Computers. The company operates more than 30 stores across four provinces, in addition to its retail website.

“It’s not a small mom-and-pop shop in some strip mall,” said Pimentel, who lives in Hamilton, Ont., within driving distance of two of the company’s stores.

Seward similarly said he did not check out as a guest when making his recent at…