Hello,

long story short, I sent a form that had a customer's credit card information, name and address to someone else. this someone else has no business knowing this information. it was all a mistake, I attached the wrong file.


right now I am just wondering how screwed am I? I talked to someone who is not a lawyer but who knows a lot about the law and he said I have to inform the party whose information has been breached. But the problem is, this person is a first time client and he would definitely cancel the order if I tell them. I mean if I hired someone and they are messing up right from the start, I would probably cancel too.

so what should I do? what are some bad things that could happen? I am so worried, how screwed am I?

The someone you sent the info to. If is a good friend, ask him to delete the file (i would personally go over to make sure he does delete it) and if he isnt a friend, tell the owner of the CC that you accidently sent the info to someone and so would recommend asking his cc company to issue a new card instead.

if you are honest, he will appreciate it and not cancel.

It's not the end of the world but like daserpent said, come clean and fess up to it...

Look at some of the problems in the lounge at this very moment. The guy with the 2Checkout.com disaster for
instance. You have virtually no problem at all unless you hesitate another second in telling that person you accidentally
exposed his CC# and info so they should secure themselves and you apologize deeply. Maybe you can make it up with
a free something that you sell if you can afford to. Don't assume the worse about their reactions but prepare for the possibility. It isn't the end of your career.

Just tell them you got hacked and for security reasons monitor your account.

Originally Posted by worldismine

Just tell them you got hacked and for security reasons monitor your account.

I wouldn't say hacked, best bet is to inform the customer that there might have been a security breach in the system and his personal information might have been compromised. Apologize for it, preferably giving some incentive EG coupon or discount. Then tell him that even though the security risks are minimal he/she still might want to keep an eye on the CC. This way if nothing happens you got a free conscious, if it does... well then you covered your ass.

First thing is to inform the owner of the credit card. he might block it or do some precautionary measure before it's misused(if at all). Don't try hide this up to your client thinking of losing the order. Losing the order is 100 times better than ending up in the legal tussle. Either way you got to pay for your stupid action... Please be careful in the future..