Nearly half a million customers of a Dublin-based credit union cannot access their money due to a “serious security incident” on Sunday.
Patelco Credit Union, which has branches across the state, told customers it had to shut down “some of our day-to-day banking systems” due to the incident.
“We are writing to inform you that on June 29, we experienced a serious security incident. This required us to shut down some of our everyday banking systems in order to remediate and contain the impact, including online banking, our mobile app, and our call center,” Erin Mendez, Patelco’s president and CEO, wrote in an email to consumers. “Currently, electronic transactions such as transfers (including Zelle), direct deposits, balance inquiries, and payments are unavailable.”
Patelco Credit Union, which has locations across the state, told customers it had to shut down “some of our day-to-day banking systems” due to a serious incident. Alyssa Goard reports.
According to Mendez, the credit union has been working with cybersecurity teams since Saturday to resolve the issue and restore online services. However, it is unclear when the issue will be resolved.
The company initially informed customers of the outage on Saturday morning.
NBC Bay Area did not immediately receive comment from Patelco Sunday.
Patelco has 33 branches in the Bay Area and said they will be open Monday and “ready to help as much as possible during our regular business hours.”
The company tapped X, formerly Twitter, to inform its customers that they can access cash withdrawals and deposits at specific ATMs within the credit union’s Co-Op network. According to the company, there are more than “30,000 shared ATMs in the United States.”
On Sunday, many customers went to the ATMs at Patelco’s head office hoping to get some clarification. Customers found that they could withdraw money from the ATMs but were unable to check their account balances or make transfers.
Erykah Phillips of Antioch said earlier this weekend she realized something was wrong when she couldn’t receive payment for her business. She couldn’t access her account information online or through Patelco’s customer service phone line.
“There was just a message saying ‘We’re having technical difficulties’ and it hung up, that’s all,” Phillips said.
Phillips was disappointed that it took until Sunday afternoon for the company to send her an email explaining the problem. She still cannot make the transfer she needs to her account.
“As a customer, I went to a credit union because I had so much difficulty with traditional banks, but now that I have problems with Patelco (Credit Union), I am considering going to a big bank, I just don’t know which one I want to go to,” Phillips said.
Many credit union customers took to social media to voice their concerns. Some said it could impact their wages, rent and mortgage payments, and they needed to access their money.
“(I’m) hoping tomorrow is payday, but right now I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to it or see if it happens,” said Mike Corpos of San Carlos.
Corpos, who said he has had an account with Patelco for nearly a decade, said he hopes his money is still in his account.
“I think that’s a concern for a lot of people. They’re looking at the Twitter feed and wondering, ‘Is our money safe?’” Corpos continued.
Brian Samoulides of Walnut Creek told NBC Bay Area he was worried his mortgage payment wouldn’t be made.
“There was no communication until this afternoon when the CEO sent this non-committal email,” Samoulides said. “Tomorrow morning I have the task of calling my mortgage company and asking them for other ways to pay them.”
People online have expressed concern and asked the credit union to be more transparent about what is happening. Some users said they feared that Patelco’s systems had been hacked.
“It would be nice to have more transparency. If you are the victim of a cyberattack, just say so,” Samoulides said.
Patelco customer Brendan Bartholomew of Pacifica said: “It’s somewhat anxiety-inducing not being able to check and make sure payments have been made. »
“This is really an example of the vulnerability of our infrastructure,” he continued.
Patelco said around 8:20 p.m. Sunday that it was “still working to resolve the outage.”
Additionally, the company informed customers that representatives would be available to answer questions during regular business hours, but would not be able to provide specific account information.
“Currently, electronic transactions such as transfers, payments, balance inquiries and payments are not available,” Patelco said on X. “Patelco branches, call center and live chat will be open and ready to help as much as they can during our regular business hours starting tomorrow, Monday July 1st We are expecting longer than normal wait times and really appreciate your patience.
Ahmed Banafa, a professor of engineering at San Jose State University whose research focuses on cybersecurity, said it was significant that the company identified what happened as a “serious security incident” and that online systems remained unavailable.
“That tells me that someone is actually inside their network and has crippled their capabilities,” Banafa said.
“What (Patelco) did is like unplugging – it’s like unplugging the computer – they’re unplugging the network and trying to figure out how to manage that,” he continued.
Banafa said the extent of the damage caused to Patelco by this incident should become clearer in the coming days. In the meantime, he recommends to customers: “make sure you monitor all your financial activities, change your passwords.”
The credit union currently manages $9 billion in assets and is considered one of the oldest and largest in the state, according to the company.