On July 16, Spinneys branches across Dubai were closed, with a note on the door saying “Dear customers, our store is temporarily closed due to system error.” Residents later found out it was due to a cybercrime attack on Spinneys’ database.

Spinneys later confirmed that the cybercrime attack managed to access customers’ data relating to online delivery details.

In an email sent to customers last month after the attack, Spinneys clarified that hackers got hold of an internal server that contained customer data including “names, email address, mobile number, delivery address and previous online delivery details”

But then Spinneys’ clients got a worrying email regarding the data that was “stolen”

Spinneys is working closely with the E-Crime Department at Dubai Police to actively investigate the matter and keep customers up to date

The email sent to customers stated, “your data has been stolen, spinneys-com is blatantly lying that the data was not stolen.” At the end of the email, it said “write a collective lawsuit, for the lines of the store,” implying that customers should file a lawsuit.

Spinneys replied back saying they are aware of the unverified emails being sent out from an unidentifiable email address. Although data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, etc has been hacked, they explained that banking information is not stored on their servers and no banking data was hacked.

Customers are urged to remain vigilant against cyber criminals and deal only with trusted individuals. Spinneys are “committed to handling our customers’ personal information responsibly and diligently at all times, and we deeply regret that this incident has occurred.”