Phishing: Attackers steal highly sensitive data from neobank customers
Criminals have stolen extremely sensitive data from customers of the financial services provider Revolut. Due to a sophisticated deception as part of a phishing attempt, neobank employees voluntarily provided the information.
Revolut releases user data
Hackers repeatedly steal customer information from company databases. Most recently, in addition to Booking, the German retailer Lidl was also hit. Now it has hit the British financial service provider Revolut, whose customers had to cope with a shock at the end of July after it was falsely reported that their data had ended up on the dark web.
This time, however, the fintech has officially confirmed the data leak. Some extremely sensitive customer information is affected. The company itself transmitted its customers’ data to unauthorized third parties. The criminals used a manipulated request that appeared to come from an official government agency. The over 15,000 data sets stolen include the following information and documents:
The incident is therefore not due to a technical intrusion into the company’s internal systems. Rather, the perpetrators used phishing tactics to make the supposed official request appear authentic. Because the message had valid authentication credentials, Revolut officials released the documents. The material in question comes from the mandatory process used to identify new customers.
Risk of identity theft
As TechCrunch reported, the attack was probably aimed specifically at wealthy users. An analyst pointed out that the stolen financial data also includes crypto transactions. This approach creates considerable risks for those affected. The combination of personal documents and financial histories enables widespread identity theft. This makes the victims vulnerable, among other things, to targeted blackmail attempts.
Revolut did not disclose exactly how many customers from which markets were affected, but responded after discovering the fraud and blocked the affected email address. The company informed the relevant authorities and the victims among its customers. The internal systems and user deposits remained untouched. The company has also announced that it will improve its internal control mechanisms for official data requests in order to prevent such manipulations in the future.
Revolut is growing rapidly
The British company has over 45 million users worldwide and operates in more than 30 countries. Originally launched as an app for cheap exchange rates, Revolut grew into a comprehensive financial platform. In addition to classic banking services, the offering now also includes trading in stocks and digital currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The neobank is also aiming for an IPO. In a previous financing round, the company’s value reached around 45 billion dollars (around 39 billion euros). Observers assume that the valuation in an upcoming IPO could reach around 200 billion dollars (around 172 billion euros).
