Hacker Claims Italian Police Breach, Revolut Data Theft
Hacker Claims Italian Police Breach, Revolut Data Theft
Anonymous
Key Points
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The compromised address was reportedly associated with the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria, even though the requests were signed as Italy’s Postal Police; that police unit has its own certified email address, creating a warning sign that was apparently missed.
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The fraudulent requests allegedly lacked the judicial-authority decree normally expected to accompany law-enforcement demands for customer information. Italy’s Postal Police is investigating the case as possible unauthorized access to a computer system and computer fraud.
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The leaked dossiers reportedly involve customers in about 30 countries, with France and Switzerland among the countries most represented, and have included prominent figures such as tennis player Alexander Shevchenko, Gamdom executive Felix Roemer and Villarreal footballer Georges Mikautadze.
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The attacker allegedly began publishing one customer dossier per day on Telegram on September 13 and demanded 10,000 bitcoin—estimated in the report at roughly €673 million—in exchange for deleting the stolen material.
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The Financial Times characterized the targeted customers as Revolut’s “crypto whales,” indicating that the campaign may have focused particularly on high-value cryptocurrency users rather than selecting customers at random.
A hacker using the alias IAmNotAVillain claims to have stolen sensitive data on roughly 680 to 700 Revolut customers by impersonating Italian law enforcement through a compromised government email account crypto-economy.com. The attacker allegedly used the breached address to make fraudulent requests for identity documents, bank details, and cryptocurrency transaction histories, then began publishing customer dossiers on Telegram and demanding 10,000 bitcoin—worth roughly €673 million—in exchange for deleting the material cryptonews.net.
Revolut confirmed its core banking systems and customer funds were not affected, characterizing the incident as an external impersonation scheme rather than a breach of its own infrastructure financefeeds.com. Italy's Postal Police is investigating the case as unauthorized computer access and fraud, while the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office is also examining the breach securityaffairs.com.
How the Scam Used Italy's Official Email System
The attacker exploited Italy's PEC certified email system, which financial institutions typically treat as an official channel for legal requests financefeeds.com. The compromised address belonged to the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria, but fraudulent messages were signed as Italy's Postal Police—a red flag because that unit has its own certified email address cryptonews.net. Many requests allegedly lacked the judicial authority decree normally required to accompany law-enforcement demands for customer information.
Hacker's Broader Claims Remain Unverified
IAmNotAVillain claims to have spent months inside Italian law-enforcement systems and stolen roughly 147 gigabytes of data crypto-economy.com. The attacker says the compromised government email gave access to databases holding Revolut customer information. However, these broader claims have not been independently verified, and Italian authorities have not publicly confirmed the extent of any government network breach.
High-Value Cryptocurrency Users Targeted Across 30 Countries
The leaked dossiers reportedly involve Revolut customers in about 30 countries, with France and Switzerland most represented linkedin.com. The Financial Times characterized the targeted customers as Revolut's "crypto whales," suggesting the campaign focused on high-value cryptocurrency users rather than random selections securityaffairs.com. Prominent figures affected include tennis player Alexander Shevchenko, Gamdom executive Felix Roemer, and Villarreal footballer Georges Mikautadze.
Ransom Demands and Ongoing Investigations
The attacker began publishing one customer dossier per day on Telegram starting September 13 cryptonews.net. The 10,000 bitcoin ransom demand equals roughly €673 million at current exchange rates. Italy's Postal Police are leading the criminal investigation into unauthorized computer access, while the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office is separately examining the breach financefeeds.com.
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