// PC GAMER — GAMING
'Heist of a new kind': AI-enabled scam reportedly managed to steal $110 million from French bank
That's reportedly one quarter's profits for the bank.
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AI-enabled hacking is only continuing to get more impressive, and more scary, as a French bank claims a hacking group has cost it €100,000,000 (around $110,000,000)—about one quarter's profits. So not much, then?
That's according to an interview with Julien Carmona of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa with the AFP, which Boursorama reported. Carmona detailed the hack in an interview, claiming it to be a "heist of a new kind", stating the company has the "dubious honor of being the first French bank, and I believe the first European bank, to be the target of a successful fraudulent attack." (machine translated).
Carmona says the hack is "unprecedented in terms of sophistication" and "technicality".
Effectively, the hacking group managed to create fake IBANs, including those from Fortuneo (a bank owned by the group), "to trigger payment orders from Crédit Mutuel Arkea's own account to external parties using instant payment systems". These, "by definition have fewer controls than on classic transfers."
Carmona did clarify to Les Echos that though they use Fortuneo IBANs, "Fortuneo's system, and therefore its customers, were not affected."
‼️ AI-enabled hackers pulled about €100 million out of French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa's own account.Its chair, Julien Carmona, told AFP how. The attackers took material from a hacked supplier, used it to get into the bank and generated fake IBANs at its online bank Fortuneo.… pic.twitter.com/fduRERezPWNovember 13, 2026
Reportedly, the hacking group used a compromised service provider of some kind to get privileged access, thereby bypassing restrictions normally in place to stop this kind of hack. When asked by Les Echos why they didn't reveal the name, Carmona said, "This is a collective decision by the banks. This information is not in the public interest and could harm the security of the banking sector. Similar service providers could then be targeted."
Starting on Sunday, November 1, the hacking group apparently made sure "everything was done to circumvent controls, to make these illegitimate transfers appear legitimate."