French bank says cyberattack stole around $100 million

French regional bank Credit Mutuel Arkea reported a cyberattack resulting in fraudulent transactions worth around EUR 100 million ($112 million) on Wednesday. The attack, which was contained, allowed hackers to gain access to Arkea's accounts and make transfers to other banks, but not the clients' accounts, who did not suffer any losses. Funds were later converted into cryptocurrencies on specialized platforms, with some portion being blocked and efforts underway to recover the funds.

Arkea's management ruled out the transfers resulting from human errors, stating it as a sophisticated outside attack. The institution has not disclosed the specific method used in the attack or the identity of the perpetrators.

The Paris public prosecutor's office opened an official investigation into the incident, which falls under the category of an attack on an automated data processing system by a well-organized group, according to a statement to AFP.

The bank clarified that the reported EUR 133 million in losses from a local newspaper, Le Telegramme, did not accurately reflect the scale of the issue. However, it confirmed that the amount of funds involved was not enough to jeopardize the financial health and stability of the group. The lender reported a net profit of EUR 230 million in the first half of the year.

Independent investigator ZachXBT, who specializes in tracking funds on the blockchain, disclosed the fraud on his social media accounts earlier in the week. He revealed that the stolen funds were routed through multiple accounts opened on crypto exchange platforms.