BAKU — On June 24, mass attacks on bank accounts were reported in Azerbaijan. Agil Layij, a lawyer based in the capital, Baku, wrote on social media that bank cards had been subjected to strong cyberattacks since June 23. According to him, account balances are decreasing, and loans are being formally issued as a result of the attacks and transferred to unknown accounts.
Customers of several banks shared screenshots on social media showing unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. A customer of the Azerbaijan International Bank (ABB), speaking anonymously to Qazetci, said he had experienced difficulties accessing the bank’s mobile application.
“When I checked my account, I saw that the payments I had made a few days ago had been reversed. At first, I thought my balance had increased, but then I realized that instead of 68 manats, only 40 manats remained in my account,” the customer said.
ABB informed customers via a message that it regretted the inconvenience and attributed the disruption to technical difficulties beyond the bank’s control.
“Relevant work is underway to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the bank said in its statement.
Throughout the day, similar problems were reported not only at ABB but also at Rabitabank, AccessBank, Expressbank, and several other financial institutions.
AzeriCard, the processing center that provides payment card services to Azerbaijan’s banking sector, issued a statement acknowledging that some customers’ accounts were affected.
According to the company, the incident was caused by duplicate transactions generated during the processing of interbank settlement files due to a technical issue outside AzeriCard’s control.
“The duplicated transactions are being canceled, and account balances are gradually being restored,” the company said.
However, customers commenting on AzeriCard’s social media statement claimed the problem had become widespread and alleged that funds removed from their accounts were being transferred to Leo Bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals.
BAKU — Elvin Abbasov, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Information and Communication Technologies Association, has said that statements issued by banks and the processing center regarding recent banking disruptions do not align.
However, the ICT Association Head Questions Conflicting Statements Over Banking Disruptions.
In a social media post, Abbasov noted that while it has been reported that transactions are being canceled and account balances are being restored, the issue of responsibility for what he described as “digital irresponsibility” remains unresolved.
“The question of who the real author of this digital irresponsibility is remains open,” Abbasov wrote.
As of publication, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and law enforcement authorities had not issued official statements regarding the issue.