Coupa Software Hit By Major W-2 Form Phishing Fraud

coupa software data theft

Earlier this month, Coupa Software fell victim to a data breach that exposed the IRS W-2 payroll forms of its employees.

According to SiliconBeat, a fraudster impersonated Coupa’s CEO and was able to obtain W-2 forms from the firm’s human resources department.

“A scammer impersonated our chief executive officer and requested that payroll information (Form W-2) for the 2016 tax year be sent via email,” a letter sent to the company’s employees and obtained by SiliconBeat stated.

The information compromised as a result of the phishing scheme included all of the personal data included on a W-2 form, such as names, employee IDs, SSNs, states of residence and work, wages earned, amounts of company-paid benefits, contributions to retirement and taxes withheld.

According to Coupa’s website, the spending-management software provider has 652 employees. In a statement, the company confirmed that no customer information was exposed in the data theft and only workers who were employed in 2016 were impacted.

“Coupa was one of numerous companies recently targeted by this ‘phishing’ scam,” the statement said. “Upon awareness of the scam, we immediately mitigated the isolated incident and implemented measures to protect affected individuals. We have not seen any evidence that any data has actually been misused. The privacy and protection of our employee data is a matter we take very seriously.”

“We work swiftly to resolve incidents that may occur and partner with leading third-party vendors to take measures and preventions against security incidents,” the statement continued.

Last year the San Mateo, California-based company had its IPO, and at its peak, Coupa shares reached more than $41, closing at an impressive $33.28. Its market cap was placed at $1.66 billion on Oct. 6, reports said.

The company made its first takeover in January since going public last October.

The company announced that it reached a deal to acquire Spend360, a U.K. firm that provides digital data management solutions, including data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence for corporate finance and procurement teams.