Patelco Credit Union Notifies 726K of Data Breach and Financial Disruptions

Patelco Credit Union recently notified over 726,000 of its members about a data breach that occurred in 2022. The breach exposed sensitive information, including names, addresses, and social security numbers.

The credit union is taking steps to protect its members, including offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. This is a proactive measure to help prevent financial disruptions.

Patelco Credit Union is also working with law enforcement to investigate the breach and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Patelco breach has had a significant impact on its customers. Patelco's online banking, mobile app, and call center services are currently unavailable.

Members can still perform cash withdrawals from ATMs, both Patelco's and shared branch machines. This is because the remediation effort has not impacted ATM services.

Electronic transactions such as transfers, direct deposits, balance inquiries, and payments are also unavailable. Debit and credit card transactions are operational but in a limited capacity.

Patelco is advising its members to be patient as its teams work round the clock to get everything back up and running. The company anticipates delays in customer service and apologizes in advance for the situation.

Patelco Credit Union, a California-based credit union with over 400,000 members, experienced a ransomware attack on June 29, 2024, forcing the shutdown of its customer-facing banking systems.

The attack led to the unavailability of online banking, mobile app, and call center services, as well as electronic transactions such as transfers, direct deposits, and payments.

Debit and credit card transactions are operational but in a limited capacity, and members can still perform cash withdrawals from ATMs.

Patelco engaged with third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and accelerate the recovery, but no date for return to normal operations has been given yet.

The company anticipates delays in customer service and apologizes in advance for the situation, kindly asking its members to be patient as its teams work round the clock to get everything back up and running.

Ransomware attacks typically also involve data theft to be used in the extortion phase, which could involve sensitive personal and financial information on hundreds of thousands of Patelco members.

Patelco clients should maintain elevated vigilance against unsolicited communications and messages requesting they share personal information and closely monitor account activity.

The attack is the latest in a string of ransomware attacks targeting US finance companies, including Blue Yonder, which was breached by the Termite ransomware gang.