Hackers Steal Millions of Customer Details from Gucci, McQueen and Balenciaga

Luxury has always been about exclusivity – but in 2025, it turns out the most coveted thing isn’t a handbag, it’s your data.

Millions of Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen customers have had their private details swiped in a major cyberattack, proving that even the glossiest fashion houses and maisons aren’t immune from the grit of digital crime.

 

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The breach, confirmed by parent company Kering, saw hackers steal names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses – even the total amount customers have splurged in stores.

According to recent reports from the BBC, Kering quietly disclosed the incident to data protection authorities and emailed affected customers, though it hasn’t confirmed how many were caught in the net. Because no card details were stolen, the company isn’t legally obliged to go public – leaving customers to piece the story together from reports.

The cybercriminal in question goes by the name Shiny Hunters – a group (or perhaps a lone operator) notorious in the hacker underground. They claim to have data tied to 7.4 million unique email addresses, suggesting a truly staggering scale.

A sample shared with the BBC included thousands of genuine details before being deleted. Among them: the “Total Sales” field, which revealed how much each individual had spent. Some had dropped over $10,000. A handful had receipts stretching from $30,000 to $86,000.

It’s the kind of detail that makes hackers’ eyes light up. Knowing exactly which customers are “high rollers” opens the door to tailored phishing campaigns, scams, and targeted identity theft.

 

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Imagine getting an email that references not just your name but exactly how much you spent at Gucci on Sloane Street last spring? It’s terrifyingly convincing.

According to the BBC, Shiny Hunters claim they breached Kering in April and reached out to the French company in June, apparently to negotiate a ransom in Bitcoin. Kering flatly denies this, insisting it has not engaged with the hacker and has refused to pay – consistent with global law enforcement advice.

The attack landed in the middle of a wave of cyber breaches hitting the luxury sector. Cartier and Louis Vuitton have also recently confirmed compromises. Whether those are connected to Shiny Hunters remains unclear. What is clear is that luxury fashion has become a hot target for cybercrime, its customer lists as valuable as its atelier archives.

 

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Even tech giants aren’t immune. In June, Google warned of escalating Shiny Hunters activity – the same group it tracks under the codename UNC6040. Google itself later fell victim to their tactics, which involve tricking employees into surrendering login credentials for internal Salesforce systems.

Security experts say the Kering breach is another stark reminder that data – even without credit card numbers – is a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. Michael Tigges, Senior Security Operations Analyst at Security Platform Huntress, told The Modems: “The breach at Kering highlights how luxury retailers remain attractive targets for data theft, even when payment data isn’t exposed. While this information did not contain payment data, access to customers’ identity information can be a threat to an individual’s online security.”

He added that multi-factor authentication, password managers, and new tools like Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) are essential for protecting against identity-based attacks. “The information contained in these personal information leaks can contain potent details to craft realistic phishing emails or fraudulently sign up or recover accounts on other services,” explains Tigges.

For fashion insiders, the hack underlines an uncomfortable truth: prestige doesn’t guarantee protection. The same brands that sell us dreams of craftsmanship and heritage are just as vulnerable to twenty-first century threats as any fast fashion site.

Luxury data, it turns out, is just another status symbol – one that cybercriminals are all too eager to flaunt.