Hackers are demanding a ransom of 10,000 Bitcoin, equivalent to over $782 million, from Revolut after obtaining sensitive customer data through an impersonation scam. The attackers, who refer to themselves as "Revolut Smilik" and "iamnotavillain" in various communications, have threatened to release "more and more data everyday" until the digital bank pays. They have already reportedly published identity documents and selfies of some affected customers, including tennis player Alexander Shevchenko and Gamdom CEO Felix Römer.
The breach, which affected almost 700 Revolut customer accounts, occurred when the company inadvertently handed over confidential information to individuals posing as a government agency. The hackers claimed to have compromised an Italian government email system (La Posta Elettronica Certificata or PEC) and used it to communicate with Revolut over several months. They requested specific customer details, including addresses, phone numbers, transaction histories, and know-your-customer (KYC) data, under the guise of law enforcement inquiries. Revolut confirmed that the requests came via Italy's PEC system and that email exchanges continued for months, though its own systems and databases were not directly breached.
The compromised data includes passports, driver's licenses, verification selfies, full names, dates of birth, occupations, contact information, IBANs, account statements, and complete transaction histories, including Bitcoin transactions. The hackers specifically targeted "crypto whales" by using on-chain analysis to identify Revolut accounts with significant cryptocurrency holdings. Most of the 680 targeted customers were from Switzerland and France, but data on residents from 31 other mainly European countries, including the UK, Germany, and Spain, was also compromised.
Revolut has stated that a "very limited" number of its over 80 million global customers were affected and that its core infrastructure and customer funds remain secure. The company immediately blocked the fraudulent address and alerted relevant government agencies and regulators upon detecting the impersonation scam. A person familiar with the situation indicated that Revolut had not been contacted by the perpetrators regarding a ransom demand, despite the hackers' public statements. Italian lawmaker Giulia Pastorella has called for immediate clarification from the interior ministry regarding the reported breach of their PEC email account, emphasizing the severity of the security lapse.
