Personal lender Latitude, who has deals with major retailers Harvey Norman, David Jones, The Good Guys, and JB Hi-Fi has been hit by a “sophisticated and malicious cyberattack” that has seen 225,000 customer records stolen.

The breach includes 103,000 ID documents, and was discovered after the lender noticed “unusual activity” on its systems, “believed to have originated from a major vendor used by Latitude”.

Considering the vast reach of Latitude, especially through the aforementioned retailers, this is a major attack.

97 per cent of these ID documents stolen are driver’s licences, furthering the scope of the possible ID theft.

Latitude has enacted a trading halt of its shares, and is “doing everything in its power to contain the incident and prevent the theft of further customer data”.

“Latitude apologises to the impacted customers and is taking immediate steps to contact them,” Latitude said.

“Our priorities are to ensure the ongoing security of our customers, our employees and our partners while continuing to deliver services.”

Harvey Norman and Latitude are currently embroiled in legal action for allegedly misleading customers about “no deposit” and “interest-free” purchases made at the store.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in filing made to the Federal Court, “The advertising did not provide consumers with the full picture, that they could only use the interest-free payment method by applying for and using certain Latitude credit cards.

“These credit cards, ASIC alleges, attracted substantial fees over the course of the 60-month payment term, and exposed consumers to the risks of incurring further debts and charges, as well as potentially affecting their credit rating.”

Many of the shoppers signing up believed they were simply paying an item off in equal monthly instalments, rather than signing up for a Latitude credit card.

“In many of the Harvey Norman ads set to be presented as evidence in the Court case, there’s no reference to a credit card at all, and in many of the ads there’s no reference to Latitude Finance at all,” ASIC stated.

“Some of them contain in very small print some reference to Latitude, but for the majority of consumers, and for many of the ads, there’s just nothing to suggest that a credit card is involved at all.”