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The Dixons Carphone breach involved malware on in-store payment terminals at Currys PC World and Dixons Travel. The company said the accessed card data did not include PINs or CVVs, but warned customers to be alert to scams that use personal information to solicit more sensitive details.

How did the Dixons Carphone hack happen?

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says the compromise ran from 24 July 2017 to 25 April 2018. Malware was installed on 5,390 point-of-sale terminals in Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores, where it could collect payment-card details as in-store transactions were processed. The ICO set out those findings in its 2020 monetary penalty notice.

Dixons Carphone disclosed the incident on 13 June 2018. Its chief executive, Alex Baldock, said the company was “extremely disappointed and sorry” and had “fallen short” in protecting its data. The company said it had taken action to close off the unauthorised access.

How many cards and personal-data records were involved?

The figures refer to different kinds of information and different stages of the investigation. They should not be added together as though they were one count of affected customers.

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Figure What it describes Source and date
5.9 million payment cards Dixons Carphone’s initial disclosure said an attempt had been made to compromise this number of cards in a payment-processing system used by Currys PC World and Dixons Travel. Dixons Carphone, 13 June 2018
5.8 million cards Cards in the disclosed total that had chip-and-PIN protection. Dixons Carphone, 13 June 2018
Approximately 105,000 cards Non-EU-issued cards without chip-and-PIN protection that the company said were compromised. The company said it notified the relevant card companies through its payment provider. Dixons Carphone, 13 June 2018
1.2 million records Records containing non-financial personal data, such as names, addresses or email addresses, that the company said had been accessed. Dixons Carphone, 13 June 2018
Approximately 10 million records A later estimate of personal-data records that may have been accessed in 2017, noted in the National Cyber Security Centre’s customer guidance. This is a later, broader estimate—not another card count. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), customer guidance

The card figures are reported as rounded or approximate totals, so the categories are not a precise arithmetic breakdown of one another. The later personal-data estimate also should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the company’s initial count: the sources describe different categories and stages of investigation.

Could the accessed card details be used to make purchases?

Dixons Carphone said the card data accessed contained no PIN codes, no card-verification values (CVVs), and no authentication data that would enable cardholder identification or a purchase. The company reported no evidence of fraud resulting from the incident at the time of its announcement. That statement describes what was known then; it is not a finding that fraud could never occur later or through other information.

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What should customers watch for?

The NCSC warned that someone with accessed personal data could contact customers and try to trick them into revealing more information, including banking login details. Names, addresses or email addresses can make a message or call seem credible, even when the sender is an impostor.

  • Be cautious with unsolicited calls, emails and text messages claiming to be from a bank, card provider or retailer.
  • Do not provide banking passwords, login codes or other credentials in response to a message or call. If you need to check an account issue, use the contact details in your banking app, on your card or on the provider’s official website—not details supplied by the caller or message.
  • Be wary of links or attachments that urge you to act quickly, and check unexpected payment alerts directly with your card issuer.

The company said it found no evidence of fraud at the time and that relevant card companies had been notified about the affected non-EU cards. If you notice an unfamiliar transaction or receive a suspicious request for credentials, contact your card issuer through a trusted channel.

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What happened after the breach?

The ICO issued DSG a £500,000 fine in 2020. In a litigation update published in February 2026, the ICO said the attack had affected the personal information of at least 14 million people. The Commissioner’s case is therefore broader than the payment-card count in the company’s initial disclosure.

The ICO also said the Court of Appeal reinstated the interpretation that organisations must take appropriate security measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access. The case is to return to the First-tier Tribunal, which will apply that interpretation to the facts. The update describes the next legal step; it does not report a final Tribunal decision applying that standard.

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  • Latches safely and securely when not in use. Rounded corner wouldn't damage on your clothes. With 7 accordion Slots, Capacity for up to more than 10 credit cards or more than 20 business cards.
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