Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Bank of Ireland customers were able to make large ATM withdrawals of cash that wasn't theirs for several hours overnight after a systems meltdown that also shut customers out of online and mobile app banking.
The country's largest bank took to social media shortly after 11 p.m. local time Tuesday apologizing to customers for a "technical issue that is impacting a number of our services including our mobile app and 365Online," warning that accounts would be reconciled once normal service was restored.
"We would like to remind customers if transferring/withdrawing funds -- including over normal limits -- this money will be debited from their account. We are conscious customers may not be able to check balances but should not withdraw/transfer if they are likely to become overdrawn," BoI said.
However, the bank rejected suggestions it may have been the target of hackers insisting it was an "outage"
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"Please be assured that this was a technical issue and not a cyberattack. We sincerely apologize for the disruption this outage caused," a customer support adviser told one customer.
The bank gave the all-clear a little after 7 a.m. cautioning that payments to accounts overnight may appear throughout the day.
The news saw lines at ATMs across the country, video and photos posted online showed, while the Garda -- the Irish police service -- confirmed some ATMs had seen an "unusual volume of activity.
Fintech provider Revolut said it was investigating reports of large funds transfers into some of its customers' accounts from the Bank of Ireland after posts appeared online from customers saying they were able to move funds to Revolut and then withdraw from an ATM.
The incident comes a week after a major data breach in Northern Ireland after the police service published online the personnel records of its 10,000 policing and civilian staff, which subsequently ended up in the hands of dissident republican paramilitaries.
