Financial technology firm Revolut has suffered a massive data breach that may have allowed hackers to access the private details of over 50,000 users.
The fintech giant, which has a banking license in Lithuania, described the assault as “highly targeted” and stated the hacker only had access to 0.16% of customers’ data for a “short period” of time.
“We immediately identified and isolated the attack to effectively limit its impact and have contacted those customers affected. Customers who have not received an email have not been impacted,” Revolut spokesperson Michael Bodansky explained. To be clear, no funds have been accessed or stolen. Our customers’ money is safe – as it has always been. All customers can continue to use their cards and accounts as normal.”
However, according to Revolut’s breach disclosure to the authorities in Lithuania, the firm says nearly 50,150 global customers, including 20,687 in the European Economic Area (EEA) and 379 Lithuanian citizens, may have been impacted by the data breach. The leaked data includes names, postal and email addresses, telephone numbers, partial card details, and bank account information.
Soon after the attack, multiple Revolut users complained regarding obscene texts received via the application’s chat feature. Some customers also reported getting text messages directed to a Revolut phishing website. It’s unclear if these events are related to the breach.
In its data breach notification to affected users, Revolut warned impacted users to be on high alert for follow-on phishing and fraud scams using leaked details.
“Cyber-criminals are constantly looking for ways to make money at your expense and try to exploit human emotions in order to extract the information they need directly from you using social engineering techniques. Scammers usually follow the same principle – they try to force you to take actions without thinking about them after starting an emotional conversation,” the company warned users.
“Malicious persons and fraudsters may try, using the publicized information about this breach of personal data security, to trick you with various login or other important personal data, offer some fictitious services and ask you to pay for them.”
According to Forbes, London-based Revolut is UK’s most valuable fintech startup currently valued at $33 billion. It has over 20 million customers in 200 nations but is most popular in Europe and the UK. The app-based bank was established in 2015 by Russia-born Nikolay Storonsky and Ukraine-born Vlad Yatsenko.