Casino Rama hack sparks proposed class action

Class-action lawyers wasted little time Friday in jumping on word of a cyberattack on an Ontario casino in which sensitive information was stolen.

The lawyers announced plans for a proposed lawsuit that would seek $50 million in damages from Casino Rama north of Toronto and began asking possible victims to sign on.

“The class action will be commenced on behalf of employees, customers and vendors of the Casino Rama Resort whose confidential information was compromised by the privacy breach,” the lawyers said. “The proposed representative plaintiffs in the lawsuit are customers who gave the resort their confidential information, including financial information.”

The statement of claim would be filed in Superior Court on Monday given the Remembrance Day holiday on Friday, said Ted Charney, one of the lawyers involved.

On Thursday, Casino Rama Resort in Rama, Ont., warned its customers, vendors as well as current and former staff to keep an eye on their bank accounts, credit cards and other financial information. The casino said it had “recently” discovered becoming the victim of a cyberattack that resulted in the large-scale data theft.

Stolen data appeared to include internal financial and security-incident reports, emails, payroll data, client information, social insurance numbers, and dates of birth, according to the casino.

“The hacker claims that the employee information dates from 2004 to 2016, and that some of the other categories of information taken date back to 2007,” the casino said in a statement on its website. “We can confirm that certain employee and customer information was stolen.”

The statement also warned that the hacker could publish the stolen data.

No one from the resort was available for comment on Friday. No allegations have been tested in court and any trial, if the proposed action were to be certified, is likely years away.