Patelco is currently experiencing service disruptions due to a cyberattack, resulting in over 450,000 customers being locked out of key services such as online banking, mobile apps, direct deposits, and online bill payments.
The credit union announced on June 29 that their systems were down and attributed the outage to a ransomware attack on July 1. Patelco is actively working to resolve the issue by engaging a cybersecurity forensic firm to investigate and recover from the incident.
While some services like cash withdrawals from ATMs, check and cash deposits, ATM withdrawals, and in-branch loan payments are still available, others like online banking, mobile apps, outgoing wire transfers, direct deposits, and online bill payments remain unavailable.
Patelco assures customers that their mobile and online banking User IDs and passwords are not affected by the security incident, and there is no evidence of account information being compromised at this time.
If customers incur late fees due to the security incident, Patelco will address the situation once systems are back online. All Patelco members are insured up to $250,000 per individual account by the National Credit Union Administration.
In a similar incident, Bank of America reported a data breach affecting over 57,000 customers in February. Compromised data included names, business email IDs, Social Security numbers, addresses, and dates of birth.
Dealing With Outages
According to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), account holders affected by bank or credit union outages should explore alternative means of accessing their funds, such as checks or in-person withdrawals. Customers have the right to request the reversal of fees incurred during the outage.
During outages, individuals should remain vigilant against fraud attempts, as scammers may try to exploit the situation through various communication channels. It is advisable to only contact the bank or credit union through official channels provided in their statements.
Ransomware attacks, like the one experienced by Patelco, are on the rise globally. In 2023, ransomware payments reached a record high of $1.1 billion, marking a significant increase in the scale and complexity of attacks compared to previous years.
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