A potential security flaw on the website of the Trump family smartphone company may have exposed the personal information of thousands of potential customers.
“At this time, the incident does not appear to involve Trump Mobile payment card information, banking information, Social Security numbers, call records, text messages, or other highly sensitive financial data,” Trump Mobile told The Guardian. “At this time, the impacted information appears to be limited to certain customer details, including names, email addresses, mailing addresses, order identifiers and mobile phone numbers.”
An Australian programmer with IT experience, who asked to remain anonymous, told the outlet that they discovered the vulnerability by accident and attempted to alert the company.
Multiple YouTubers said they were contacted by a source who discovered the flaw and found their personal information embedded in about 30,000 orders logged on a pre-order website for the T1, Trump Mobile’s gold-toned flagship smartphone.
“I’m making this video to let you know that Trumpmobile.com is leaking customer information,” YouTuber Coffeezilla, who makes videos about scams, said in a May 19 clip. “And I know that because, sadly, I am one of those customers whose mailing address, email address—everything short of credit card number—is being leaked via a security exploit.”
The Independent has contacted the Trump Organization for comment and confirmation regarding the nature and extent of the issue.
The president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, announced the Trump phone last June, promising that customers could get their hands on the American-made T1 by August.
Since then, the phone’s release has been delayed multiple times, and the company appears to have backed away from its made-in-America promises.
Trump Mobile executives have since said the phones were manufactured in a “favored nation,” while final assembly would occur in Florida.
The rollout, which began this month with media outlets getting versions of the phone, has been marred by unusual details.
Observers noted that the T1 closely resembles the HTC U-24 Pro, which is made in Taiwan, despite Trump Mobile saying on its website that the phone had “American teams helping guide design and quality.”
An American flag on the back of the phone also did not have the right number of stripes.
The fine print on the phone’s preorder website also suggested the phone might not be released to the general public at all.
In January, a group of Democratic senators led by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts demanded that the Federal Trade Commission investigate Trump Mobile over concerns about its marketing claims.
