MoneyGram Cyberattack: Global Service Disruptions Enter Day 5

MoneyGram faces a cyberattack that has caused global service disruptions for five days. Customers are unable to send or receive payments, as the company works to restore systems and investigate the issue.

MoneyGram, a global leader in money transfer services, has been experiencing widespread service disruptions following a cyberattack that impacted its systems on September 21, 2024. The company has confirmed that its network connectivity and key systems were taken offline to address the security breach.

While it is unclear whether the incident was a DDoS attack or ransomware, the prolonged outage has left many users unable to send or receive payments globally, leading to frustration among customers who depend on the service for their financial transactions.

At the time of writing this article, the MoneyGram website was down and showing this message (Screenshot credit: Hackread.com)

****Timeline of the Outage****

As seen by Hackread.com, the issue first came to light late on September 21, 2024, when MoneyGram acknowledged the network outage in a tweet. In its first tweet, the company announced the following incident:

“MoneyGram is experiencing a network outage impacting connectivity to a number of our systems. We are working diligently to better understand the nature and scope of the issue. We recognize the importance and urgency of this matter to our customers.”

MoneyGram – 11:19 PM · Sep 21, 2024

At this stage, the extent of the problem was unclear, and customers were left in the dark about when services would resume. It wasn’t until September 23, two days later, that MoneyGram confirmed a cybersecurity incident was behind the outage.

“MoneyGram recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting certain of our systems. Upon detection, we immediately launched an investigation and took protective steps to address it, including proactively taking systems offline which impacted network connectivity. We are working with leading external cybersecurity experts and coordinating with law enforcement.”

MoneyGram – 2:06 PM · Sep 23, 2024

The company further explained that they had taken these preventive measures to protect their systems but acknowledged the inconvenience to their customers and partners.

****Customer Frustrations Grow****

By September 24, some key transactional systems were slowly being restored, but users were still facing major disruptions. Many reported being unable to send or receive payments, while others complained of pending transactions being stuck. At 3:38 PM, MoneyGram provided an update, stating:

“We continue to make progress in successfully restoring some of our key transactional systems. Our dedicated team is actively working around the clock on resuming normal business operations. Once all systems are fully operational, transactions that are currently pending will be made available to customers.”

MoneyGram – 3:38 PM · Sep 24, 2024

Despite the ongoing work, many users expressed their frustration on social media, highlighting how the outage had affected their ability to access funds or complete urgent financial transactions.

****Partial Service Restoration Begins****

By September 25, more services were coming back online, but the company was still working to restore all of its systems fully. MoneyGram reported that many of its agent partners were back online and could send and receive money, providing some relief to customers with stuck payments.

“We continue to make progress and are resuming additional services. Many of our agent partners are now available for sending and receiving money, including fulfilling pending transactions. We are continuing to work diligently to resume our remaining services, including http://moneygram.com.”

MoneyGram – 9:28 AM · Sep 25, 2024

Although progress was being made, some customers were still unable to use MoneyGram’s website and online services, further fueling frustration among users who rely on the platform for cross-border payments and remittances.

MoneyGram on Twitter (Screenshot credit: Hackread.com)

****Customer Impact and Response****

The outage, which is still ongoing, has left many users questioning MoneyGram’s ability to secure their financial transactions and data at this moment. The delay in service restoration, especially for time-sensitive transactions, has caused considerable inconvenience, particularly for individuals and businesses who rely on MoneyGram for international money transfers.

While MoneyGram has reassured customers that they are working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement, the prolonged disruption and uncertainty have raised concerns about the company’s preparedness and ability to respond to cyberattacks.

****We will keep you posted****

MoneyGram has committed to keeping customers informed through social media updates, but as of now, the full extent of the data compromise remains unclear. Therefore, users are advised to monitor MoneyGram’s updates for further information about when full services will be restored and when pending transactions will be processed.

Meanwhile, Hackread.com is closely monitoring dark web leak sites associated with prominent ransomware gangs for any claims related to the MoneyGram cyberattack, in case it is confirmed to be a ransomware attack. Stay tuned.

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