Warwick. Town Democratic Committee chair says hackers targeted local businesses in political stunt

Christine Stage, chair of the Warwick Democratic Committee, said late Tuesday evening the committee and its candidates are alarmed by the recent hacking of as many as five local businesses’ customer databases.

Stage said the hacks were used to disseminate political vitriol against Democratic candidates for town board and town justice.

“There is no place for this in politics in our town,” Stage said. “Not only is this activity illegal, but it is also a violation of the privacy of the thousands of Warwick residents who are patrons of our local businesses.”

The exact number of customers that were affected by the data breach is unknown at this time. Stage said the hackers used businesses’ customer phone numbers to send a text that linked to a website disparaging the Democratic candidates.

Stage said the committee cannot report the incident to police because “it was not our data which was breached.”

She added the committee first learned of the hacking from someone at a local car dealership, and then later from a medical office in Middletown.