French cooperative bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa says a cyberattack enabled fraudulent transactions worth up to $133 million, and it suspended certain systems in response. The bank says customer assets were unaffected. It also says the incident is now closed and under control, while operations are gradually returning to normal.
The bank and its scale
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is a major French banking group with more than 5.8 million members and 211.5 billion euros in assets. Reports about the incident surfaced on November 2, when blockchain fraud investigator ZachXBT warned of a large-scale unauthorized withdrawal from multiple centralized exchange accounts that had taken place a day earlier. He said the attacker may have stolen up to 118 million euros, or $133 million, and withdrawn it as USDC and USDT stablecoins.
How the incident was described
In a FAQ page, Arkéa said the attacker reached its network directly through a service provider’s platform. The bank ruled out Fortuneo in that explanation. Arkéa said the attacker used its own account to transact with other banking institutions and convert funds into cryptocurrency, rather than using customers’ accounts. It also said the incident was a sophisticated attack and ruled out human error at the bank.
Funds, disclosure, and blocked transfers
Arkéa disclosed the incident on November 4 and said the event had no impact on clients’ assets. Instead, it said the case has caused delays in the execution of certain transfer transactions across its federations and subsidiaries. The bank warned of increased phishing risk and told customers to stay alert for unsolicited communications and to avoid sharing sensitive details over the phone or email. Suspicious messages should be checked by calling the bank adviser directly.
What remains under investigation
The bank did not confirm ZachXBT’s estimate of the stolen amount, but it said the amount was significant and that some funds were blocked. When asked whether 118 million euros, or 133 million dollars, had been stolen, the bank said it could not confirm that information and could only validate the order of magnitude. It is working with judicial authorities and the police to establish the attack’s exact origin and modus operandi. BleepingComputer contacted Crédit Mutuel Arkéa for more details and the status of the investigation, but had not received a response.
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