In a press release this week Spirit Super said it had contacted all members affected by the incident which occurred on 19 May, 2022.

Spirit said the breach occurred after a staff member’s email account was “compromised” through a phishing incident and it was not a system error.

The group said the data compromised included names, addresses, ages, email addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers and member balances.

It did not include dates of birth, government identification numbers such as tax files numbers or driver’s licence or any bank account details.

“Please be assured investigations to date indicate that accounts have not been compromised,” Spirit said in the press release.

“We have increased the levels of security to ensure our members’ accounts remain safe. Our investigation will continue.”

Spirit Super is a superannuation provider for more than 325,000 members and 70,000 employers as of 30 June 2021.

Any members concerned about the incident can call the Spirit Super contact centre on 1800 005 166.