

Hi,

On Saturday 14th, a malicious user used SpareRoom's "Tell a Friend" recommendation system to send messages purporting to be from Bank of America Home Loans.  The email said money would be paid into the recipient's bank account and requested bank account details along with other personal information.  The email came from a SpareRoom.co.uk email address, but the content of the email is a scam and wasn't in any way sanctioned by SpareRoom.

Please don't reply to this email with your bank details or any other personal information. Even though the reply will go to SpareRoom, not the malicious user that created the email, the message was a scam and we don't require your details.

However, if you replied to the email address in the body of the email - the one beginning 'bankofamericanewyork.homeloan1' - please contact your bank immediately to let them know.

As soon as the source of the emails was discovered we locked this system down to stop it sending any more emails. Other than the misuse of the "Tell a Friend" system, we're not aware of any breaches to the security of SpareRoom. It appears as though the list of email addresses that were targeted were obtained from an external source.

There is currently no evidence to suggest that SpareRoom has been hacked; this is an isolated instance of someone misusing a specific feature of the site.

We apologise sincerely for any inconvenience caused.

Best wishes,

The SpareRoom Team  
gemma.craft@spareroom.co.uk  
01625 666 750