Play.com, the second largest online retailer in the UK, has revealed that its customers’ email addresses may have been exposed by a data breach at a marketing services provider it uses.

"[A] company that handles part of our marketing communications has had a security breach," Play.com said in an email to customers. "Unfortunately this has meant that some customer names and email addresses may have been compromised."

"We take privacy and security very seriously and ensure all sensitive customer data is protected," it continued. "Please be assured this issue has occurred outside of Play.com and no other personal customer information has been involved."

Play.com customers reported receiving spam and phishing emails earlier this week. A number of users at MoneySavingExpert.com said they have received a fake email claiming to be from software vendor Adobe.