H&M Group is investigating claims that it was targeted by cybercriminals last week, as a series of incidents raises fresh concerns about the security of major fashion retailers and their customer data.

The Swedish retailer, which owns H&M, Cos, Arket and Weekday, said it was assessing claims linked to ShinyHunters, a financially motivated hacking group associated with attacks on major technology and entertainment companies. An H&M Group spokeswoman told The Times that the company was investigating a potential incident involving a limited amount of data.

The spokeswoman said: “We are currently investigating these claims to assess their validity and so far we have no indication that our data environment has been compromised.” The company declined to provide further details while its investigation continued.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had not received a report about the alleged H&M incident by Monday lunchtime, according to The Times. UK organisations must generally report personal data breaches to the regulator within 72 hours of becoming aware of them if the incidents pose a risk to people’s rights and freedoms.

The claims follow a cyberattack disclosed by online fashion retailer Asos last week, when an unauthorised party accessed personal information, including customer names and contact details. Asos said account passwords and payment card details had not been compromised.

The Times reported that sources believed H&M might have been targeted by the same group responsible for the Asos incident, although the identity of the attackers and the extent of any potential H&M breach remain unconfirmed.

The Asos incident involved a third-party customer relationship management system and cloud data storage provider Snowflake. Snowflake subsequently said the breach was not caused by a vulnerability or flaw in its platform.

A separate incident involving TFG London, the UK arm of South African retail conglomerate The Foschini Group, was identified on Sunday. The company said some IT systems were affected, specifically those supporting its Phase Eight, Hobbs and Whistles brands.

TFG London said its physical stores were operating normally, although some website capabilities might be unavailable. The company was working with external cybersecurity specialists to establish whether sensitive customer information had been affected.

H&M reported net sales of 57.2 billion Swedish krona (£4.4 billion) between June and September, up 1 per cent year on year, according to figures released last month. Its shares fell around 1.5 per cent on Monday following reports of the alleged cyberattack.

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