80.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSource PicksWAPA Advises Customers of Payment Data Breach When Paying With Credit/ Debit...

WAPA Advises Customers of Payment Data Breach When Paying With Credit/ Debit Cards

WAPA Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer said he believes the string of recent power outages in the territory is over, and called the recent problems "unacceptable." (File photo)
WAPA Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer (File photo)

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) is advising customers who pay their electrical and water bills online to ensure that no questionable or fraudulent charges have been made on their credit or debit card accounts. The advisory comes after a third-party vendor used by WAPA to process credit card payments was the target of an apparent cyberattack.

On Oct. 18, after a customer reported fraudulent activity on a credit card account following an online payment, WAPA immediately notified its vendor, Central Square Technologies, about the possibility of a data compromise.

Central Square Technologies, which has processed WAPA’s online payments for more than a decade without incident, later confirmed the breach, and it has since taken steps to prevent a reoccurrence. WAPA has a meeting with Central Square Technologies on Wednesday and will provide additional updates. The vendor is in the midst of an investigation on the scope, cause and remediation of the data breach involving WAPA’s online payment methods.

Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer said Tuesday night that as a precaution, WAPA provisioned new servers to avoid reoccurrence.

“WAPA is working with Central Square Technologies to determine the number of customers affected, and the dates that the compromise occurred. Payments made by two other options, self-service kiosks, and pay-by-phone were not affected,” Kupfer said.

He encouraged customers to monitor credit card statements for potentially fraudulent activity. “Any suspicious charges should be reported to your bank or credit card provider immediately.”

Additionally, WAPA offers several payment options for its customers who wish to use a different payment method.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.