‘Customers’ data not affected’ — GTB says hackers tried to compromise website

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Ltd says there were attempts to compromise its website domain but customers’ data were not affected.

On Wednesday, reports circulated that there was a compromise on the domain address of GTBank by suspected cyber criminals.

The attackers were said to have created another hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) layer of the website in an apparent ploy to steal customers’ data through phishing.

Phishing is a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware.

The reports had created panic among customers who thought their accounts could be affected.

However, responding to the reports in a statement on Thursday, GTB said the “bank’s website has not been cloned and no instance of compromise of customer data”.

“Our attention has been drawn to reports in the media alleging that hackers have seized the Bank’s website, cloned, it, and intercepted customer data,” the bank said.

“While there was an isolated incident of an attempt to compromise our website domain, we would like to assure all our customers and stakeholders that the Bank’s website has not been cloned and that we do not store customer information on our website, and as such, there has been no instance of compromise of customer data.”

The bank also said a dedicated team of information security experts is “currently working round the clock to restore domain settings, and we can assure our customers that our website will be up shortly”.

GTB also urged all customers to disregard the claims in the media reports, assuring them of their “unwavering commitment to safeguarding customer data”.

In a report on June 13, SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence, a geopolitical research firm, said the amount of money lost to fraud in Nigeria’s financial sector increased by N14.71 billion or 83 percent between 2019 and 2023.

SBM said the amount increased steadily from N2.96 billion to N17.67 billion within the reviewed period.