Revolut denies direct contact despite $3M Monero ransom demand

Revolut has confirmed it has received no direct communication from the group behind a public ransom demand of 6,000 Monero (XMR), valued at approximately $3 million, following a reported customer data breach. The group, calling itself ‘IAmNotAVillain,’ issued the demand within 24 hours of disclosure, threatening to sell stolen customer records to other criminal actors. A Revolut spokesperson reiterated that no direct contact or further demands had been received, despite the public ultimatum. The incident follows Revolut’s initial disclosure of the breach last week, which has since expanded into a broader investigation involving Italian authorities. The National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate is now examining how a government email account allegedly facilitated unauthorized access to customer data. Prosecutors in Reggio Calabria have opened a formal inquiry into unauthorized system access, while Italy’s privacy regulator has urged banks to review their security protocols, raising concerns about potential broader implications for the financial sector. The ambiguity surrounding the breach’s origins persists, with rival claims of responsibility emerging from different actors. Earlier, a group named ‘Revolut Smilik’ had demanded 10,000 Bitcoin, valued at around $780 million at the time, though ‘IAmNotAVillain’ disputed this claim, asserting that a former associate had misrepresented the breach. Additional websites linked to the incident, such as iamnotavillain.xyz and revoloot.lol, were inaccessible at the time of reporting, complicating efforts to verify the actors involved. The breach underscores ongoing vulnerabilities in customer data protection, particularly in fintech firms handling sensitive personal information.