British fintech Revolut, a licensed bank operating online, has confirmed that sensitive customer information was disclosed to an unauthorized third party after it received fake government request.
European payments group has contacted clients whose IDs, addresses, verification pictures, bitcoin activity and other details were handed over to hackers posing as government officials. Nearly 700 Revolut customers have been affected by data breach.
According to press reports, the hackers are threatening to release the information to the public unless Revolut pays a ransom. Britain’s data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, said that it was investigating the incident after Revolut reported itself to the watchdog days before. The incident underlines the increasing threat posed to businesses by cybercriminals.
Since launching in 2015, Revolut has become Europe’s biggest fintech with 80 million customers operating in 30 countries. It was recently valued at $115bn in a secondary share sale.
The neobank was seeking Morocco’s approval to start operating in the Kingdom, but its entry in the Kingdom has been delayed for regulatory compliance.
