The data breach letter from Glasswasherparts.com connects to a few key ideas from economics and psychology. Economically, it shows information asymmetry—the company and its platform provider knew about the breach before telling customers, which meant people were at risk without even knowing it. It also ties into transaction cost economics, because now customers have to spend extra time and effort dealing with the fallout—like canceling cards and watching their bank accounts—costs they never expected when making a simple purchase. Psychologically, prospect theory helps explain why the situation feels so unsettling: even if no fraud has happened yet, just the chance of losing money or having your identity stolen is enough to make people feel anxious and take action. And with attribution theory, you can see how the company tries to shift the blame to the third-party provider, possibly to protect its own image. Altogether, these theories help explain why a breach like this has such a big impact—not just on customers’ finances, but also on their trust and peace of mind.