APCS Data breach

We have been notified that one of our suppliers Access Personal Checking Services Ltd (APCS) has been subject to a significant data breach. ACPS carries out Data and Barring Services (DBS) checks on behalf of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), some Dioceses and Parochial Church Council (PCCs). The breach has affected clergy, lay ministers, volunteers, and staff.

This breach has impacted people across the Church who have been subject to a recent DBS check. APCS carries out DBS checks on behalf of some Dioceses and PCCs, and the National Church.

APCS specialise in processing disclosures for individuals and small business owners, large public and private sector companies, organisations, and recruitment agencies. DBS checks have to be carried out through a registered body such as APCS.

APCS have stated that their external software supplier, Intradev, notified them on 17 August that their system had been compromised between the 31 July 2025 and 15 August 2025, and certain files containing personal details were copied. APCS were provided with copies of the compromised data on Monday 18 August. APCS’ own network and servers were not compromised. From initial assessments made by APCS, the data that is affected is from 1 December 2024 to 9 May 2025.

Yes. APCS provides Data and Barring Services (DBS) to many organisations. This breach also impacts those bodies.

APCS have started the process of notifying those individuals affected by the breach. APCS have said that the breach only affects those individuals who were subject to a DBS check between the 1 December 2024 to 9 May 2025, but this is a moving situation, and we will keep you updated as we receive more information.

We understand that the breach may have affected some or all the following information:

• Name, phone number, date of birth, email address, address, place of birth, National Insurance number, passport number, driving licence number.
• It does not include:
• Medical information, information on any disclosures, information about your protected characteristics e.g., ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, marital status.

The information that was accessed was in text format only. No documents, images, passwords, or financial details were affected.
 

• We have contacted people who we know to be affected directly by the data breach with advice and support as well as keeping in touch with parishes who have been affected.
• Support includes 12 months free access to a credit checking and monitoring service from Experian – codes will be sent to individuals and parishes w/c 1 September.
• This incident has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and a Serious Incident Report has been made to the Charity Commission.
• Pastoral and emotional support has been made available through the Archdeacons office, HR team and diocesan safeguarding team. It is recognised how upsetting and worrying this is for individuals.

Yes. PCCs should report separately to the ICO if they have verified DBS checks and have been told by APCS that their checks are affected by the breach.

The Charity Commission have informed the National Church that due to the large number of Serious Incident Reports they have received on this, trustees in PCCs and diocesan boards of finance do not need to report to the Charity Commission "if in substance they simply wish to report the same incident in materially similar terms".
 

The 72-hour window is based on when your organisation became aware of the data breach (i.e. when the email sent from APCS was seen). If you have missed the 72-hour deadline, you can explain that the reason for the delay is because you were fact finding, but it is best if you can do this as close to the 72-hour window as possible.

If you wish to make an erasure request, you can contact APCS via email to enquiries@accesspcs.co.uk or by phone on 0845 6431145. The APCS Privacy policy is available here: www.onlinecrbcheck.co.uk/docs/privacypolicy.pdf

Access to a credit checking and monitoring service from Experian is being made available for 12 months for those affected. If you have been affected by this data breach and you have not received a code to access your Experian Identity Plus account by Friday 5 September, please contact databreachsupport@cofe-worcester-org.uk. More information about the service available from Experian is contained within these FAQs.

Advice about what additional steps you can take, and the resources available to help protect you from fraud, are also included in these FAQs.

Please direct any questions or concerns to databreachsupport@cofe-worcester.org.uk and we will endeavour to reply to you as soon as possible (this may take a little longer if you are emailing outside of office hours).

We have been informed that the compromised data is most likely to be used for fraudulent financial transactions and the risk of your documents being cloned by someone else is lower because images have not been shared. However, we are unable to offer definitive advice on whether to replace your documents. The Experian credit service should enable any fraudulent financial activity to be spotted as quickly as possible and we have been told that there should be no increased risk to you using your passport.

We are encouraging all colleagues who are potentially affected by this to sign up to the Experian service. This service, provided for 12 months, will help you to keep an eye out for any changes that suggest someone is using your data improperly – for instance, you will get an alert if someone sets up a new credit agreement. If you become the victim of fraud, you will be offered help through Experian’s caseworker service to get back on track and sort out your credit file.

In addition, you should look out for any unwanted calls, emails or contact to you directly, including monitoring your bank account. You might find it helpful to talk to your bank now to let them know of the situation. Some are able to put in place additional identification verification checks for making/setting up payments, to help keep your money safe.

• Stay alert to unexpected emails, calls, or letters that mention personal details about you
• Never give personal information to unsolicited callers, even if they seem to know details about you
• Verify any unexpected contact by calling the organisation directly using their official number
• Monitor for new applications made in your name:
  • Check your credit report – see below for information about the service that will be available to you from Experian shortly.
  • Look for any new accounts, credit searches, or applications you did not make.
• Inform your bank, building society and credit card company of any unusual transactions on your statement.

Links and contact numbers:

Action Fraud 
The government has put together this checklist to help on the steps to take to repair your identity and prevent re-victimisation.

The National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre has a wealth of advice and resources on the Action Fraud website. 

• www.actionfraud.police.uk
• Call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040

GOV.UK

• Advice from GOV.UK on the actions you should take if you have shared personal information

Financial Ombudsman Service
If you have lost money because of fraud or a scam – and you are unhappy with how your bank or payment service provider handled things – The Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help.

• www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/fraud-scams

General advice

• www.citizensadvice.org.uk
• Call Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133

To report the theft or loss of post

• Royal Mail website: www.royalmail.com/report-a-crime
• Or call Royal Mail on 08457 740 740

We should be in touch during the week of 1 September with codes for all individuals and parishes who we know have been affected. If you have been affected and haven’t received a code by Friday 5 September, please do contact us on databreachsupport@cofe-worcester.org.uk.

Features of the Experian Identity Plus account includes:

• Daily Experian Fraud Report
  If you log in, you can get your daily Experian Fraud Report. This details key information from your Experian Credit Report that may help you identify fraudulent activity on your credit report.
• Alerts provided as part of the service
  Alerts will be provided by email and/or SMS, depending on your settings and features availability.
• Experian fraud alerts
  Get alerts by email and/or text message about certain changes to your Experian Fraud Report. Alerts relate to when accounts are opened or closed, or when your credit report is searched. Some of our credit alerts may be sent in real-time to notify of certain changes when they happen, others are sent weekly.
• Experian CreditLock alerts
  Experian will let you know when your Experian credit file is searched and if your credit file was locked. For any applications that are blocked you will be sent a message by email and/or text to make you aware.
• CreditLock
  Experian CreditLock is designed to reduce fraudulent credit applications. Locking your Experian Credit Report will help to block new fraudulent credit applications made in your name, using your information from the Experian Credit Bureau.
• Web monitoring
  Experian will help you better protect your identity by scanning certain internet sites and locations for selected personal and financial details and alerting you by email or text message if anything looks wrong or fraudulent. Alerts are sent every day that we find suspicious information. Web monitoring is designed to work alongside taking a cautious approach to your sharing of data and use of the internet and other digital services.

Read this guide to Identity Plus for more details

If you are not sure where to start, take a look at this guide from Experian: www.experian.co.uk/consumer/experian-credit-report.html

Your credit report has different sections. For instance, it will show information about you, any credit agreements you have (e.g. your mortgage or with a phone company), your financial connections (e.g. spouses/partners), and details of any missed/overdue payments on credit agreements.

At the end of the 12-month period the individuals will get an email to say their subscription is coming to an end and the options available to them.

Through your Experian Identity Plus subscription, you will be offered daily alerts as to whether something has changed within your credit report. The subscription also allows you to lock your Experian credit report to help stop fraudsters taking out agreements in your name.

Experian is a member of CIFAS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) and can access data related to confirmed fraud cases. CIFAS focuses on fraud prevention; Experian offers identity verification and fraud prevention.

If when you log into Experian using the code we have given you, and you are using your personal email address, you may be told that you already have an account under that username. In this case either continue to use your existing account if you are still paying for it and let us know that you do not need the code or create a new account using a different email address.

If you need further assistance, please call the Experian support line on 03444 818182.

When you create the account, you will be asked for your email address as a username, you should use your own personal email account because reports from Experian contain your own personal financial information which should not be held in a work email inbox (see above).

You may be asked for date of birth and address so that Experian can identify you, and they may ask you for additional data, for example, your mother’s name as an additional security check.

They will already know some of your financial arrangements e.g. mortgage information and bank account details etc, or other financial arrangements where you have had to get a credit check, and they will ask you to confirm these.

They need these details to ensure that they monitor all your financial arrangements, however, they also collect data for marketing purposes.

You should read their Privacy Notice here: Experian Consumer Privacy Policy

To opt out of marketing click here: Opt out by marketing channel and industry sector - Experian Consumer Information Portal

Please do not offer any comment and refer them to our Director of Communications, Sam Setchell on ssetchell@cofe-worcester.org.uk or 07852 302516.