Origin Energy has confirmed a hack that has compromised the personal and banking details of its customers. The company, which has 4.8 million customer accounts in Australia, revealed the breach in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Thursday. The hack has accessed customers’ addresses, phone numbers, and partial bank account data, although the company has yet to confirm how many customers have been affected.
The compromised data may include customers’ names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, and Origin account information, as well as the last four digits of a credit card or the last three digits of a bank account. However, the company has stated that the incomplete credit card or bank account information cannot be used to make purchases or access accounts. A person claiming to be the hacker has reportedly contacted media outlets with unverified claims that 2 million customers’ details were accessed.
Origin’s chief executive, Frank Calabria, apologized for the incident and assured customers that the company is securing its systems and working with independent cyber experts and authorities to prevent further unauthorized access. Experts have warned that customers could be vulnerable to identity theft or scams if the data is leaked. Rumpa Dasgupta, a lecturer in cybersecurity at La Trobe University, noted that the personalized records could be misused for physical robberies, supporting physical crimes such as burglary by identifying vulnerable properties.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre, the Australian federal police, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OIAC) are investigating the breach. The National Office of Cyber Security is leading the government’s response. This incident follows a recent leak of 5 million Qantas customers’ information in October, which prompted warnings about scammers cold-calling leaked phone numbers.
The OIAC reported 1,205 data breach notifications in 2025, with 716 related to malicious or criminal activity. The Australian federal police are investigating the Qantas hack, and the federal privacy commissioner found that Qantas did not make any omissions or failings in breach of the Privacy Act.
Origin Energy has assured customers that it will notify them once it confirms whether they have been affected by the breach. In the meantime, customers are advised to be cautious of potential scams and identity theft attempts.
