Hackers Blackmail Swiss Bank for 10,000 Euros; Threaten Client Data Leak

A group of hackers blackmailed Banque Cantonale de Geneve (BCGE), threatening to disclose client information if the Swiss financial institution doesn`t pay a 10,000 euro-worth ransom, according to Softpedia.

The cyber-gang dubbed ËœRex Mundi` gave this evening as deadline for the bank to pay the ransom. The hackers allegedly infiltrated last week into the systems of Banque Cantonale de Geneve but didn`t access any bank account.

“We did download 30,192 private emails sent by both Swiss and foreign customers, in addition to various other interesting data (conference registrations, mailing list entries,” Rex Mundi said on DPaste.

They also gave examples of client-bank email conversations, disclosing full details of a few victims.

“Dear Sir/Madame, I am currently on a work assignment in Singapore,” one of the client emails read. “I need to access my accounts [data removed] but I am unable to. My access has been locked. Please kindly unblock my account and resend a new password (to my address in your system in Madrid, Spain). If needed you may reach me at [number removed]. Many thanks.”

Another client asked the Swiss bank to close his account and transfer the money to his bank account in France. The email was written in French, and the Swiss bank has many other foreign clients.

Hackers claim they contacted BCGE and offered to refrain from posting their data in exchange for “a very reasonable amount of money.”

“Since they declined our initial offer, we have therefore decided to post this initial leak,” Rex Mundi said.

They encouraged clients all over the world to contact the bank and to ask them to “reconsider their position.” They also gave BCGE`s contact details at the end of their statement.

At the time of writing, hackers continued to taunt the Swiss Bank via Twitter, suggesting that many accounts are not declared by the customers in other countries.

“We would like to wish a merry tax audit to all the non-Swiss account holders listed in the BCGE files,” they tweeted.

Rex Mundi`s latest victims include Tabasco, Z-Staffing and Exaris employment websites, according to Softpedia. In an older incident, the hackers also tried to blackmail Domino’s Pizza websites in Belgium and France, after hijacking over 650,000 customer records.