Attackers who exploited a fake government request to access Revolut customer records have made their first move.
Attackers who tricked Revolut into handing over customer records published the data of high-profile clients over the weekend and demanded a ransom of 10,000 Bitcoin, warning on September 14 that they would leak more each day until the European fintech pays.
Revolut confirmed on September 12 that an unauthorized party had impersonated a government agency, sending fraudulent requests for information from an email on the agencys real domain with valid technical authentication, which staff processed as a routine legal request.
Revolut Blocks Address and Alerts Regulators
As CryptoPotato covered, the data breach included the disclosure of passports, verification selfies, account statements and IBANs, alongside names, dates of birth and home addresses. A Revolut spokesperson said the company “recently identified a sophisticated external impersonation scam where an unauthorized third party utilized a legitimate government agency domain email to submit fraudulent requests for information.”
The group calling itself Revolut Smilik posted client files across several Telegram channels and warned it would “start releasing more and more data every day until Revolut pays for leaking their customers.”
Hackers who attacked Revolut have published the personal data of well-known clients and demanded a ransom of 10,000 Bitcoins
They posted leaked details on several customers, including tennis player Alexander Shevchenko and Gamdom CEO Felix Römer.
The posted material appeared to include data on high-profile individuals, among them company executives, sports professionals, and performing artists, according to The Register, which put the 10,000 Bitcoin demand at more than $782 million. Revolut declined to comment on the ransom.
The company said it blocked the address on detection and alerted the relevant government agency, law enforcement, data protection and financial regulators, and that its systems and customer funds were unaffected. Revolut said a limited number of customers were affected and that it had contacted them directly, without disclosing a figure or naming the compromised agency.
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The company had earlier said the affected customers biometric facial data was not compromised. On-chain investigator ZachXBT, who flagged the incident, said it appeared limited in size and concentrated on high-net-worth users, an assessment neither Revolut nor independent parties have confirmed.
Stolen Records Heighten Phishing Risk
Revolut lets customers buy and sell more than 90 cryptocurrencies, and the stolen files included some clients full Bitcoin transaction histories. Similar leaks have fed targeted scams against crypto holders.
CryptoPotato documented how criminals used leaked order data to send Ledger owners convincing phishing emails after a separate breach, using a bogus Ledger-Trezor merger to lure them to a fake site that harvested recovery phrases.
The Revolut demand is yet another breach that turned customer data into leverage against crypto firms, just like it happened to Coinbase when a ransom demand forced the exchange to disclose a breach affecting more than 69,000 customers, exposed after overseas support agents were bribed to hand over their records.