Fintech firm Revolut has said a “sophisticated external impersonation scam” was behind a data breach that involved the company releasing sensitive information about its customers.
A spokesman for the company said a “limited number” of individuals were impacted by the breach and these customers have been contacted directly.
“Revolut recently identified a sophisticated external impersonation scam where an unauthorised third party utilised a legitimate government agency domain email to submit fraudulent requests for information,” he said.
“Upon detection, we immediately blocked the address and alerted the relevant government agency as well as enforcement agencies, data protection, and financial regulators.”
He added that Revolut’s systems and customer funds have been unaffected by the breach.
Details of the data breach were first reported by news website TechCrunch .
It reported that data that was shared with the third party as part of the breach included customers’ identity and contact details, their dates of birth, postal and email addresses, and phone numbers.
TechCrunch’s report added that a notification emailed to impacted customers said personal identity documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses, were also shared
The email to customers also said verification selfies, account statements and transaction histories may have been shared.
Fast-growing Revolut has more than 80 million customers globally. The London-based company has amassed a large number of users in Ireland, with a reported 3.4 million customers in the country.
Revolut recently disclosed its lending service in Ireland has surpassed €1 billion, with the bank providing credit across 300,000 facilities, four year after launching Irish credit services.
The company, which was valued at $115 billion (€99 billion) in July, has made limited inroads outside Europe. Last year, it announced plans to expand its services in the US market.
It has committed to invest $500 million in the US between three to five years. In September, Revolut secured conditional approval to operate as a national bank in the US.