Real estate subsidiary of Germany's DZ Bank suffers cyberattack

Flags with the inscription "DZ Bank - Dei Initiative Bank" hang in front of the office tower "Westend 1", also known as the Kronen Hochhaus, which is part of DZ Bank's headquarters. A property subsidiary of Germany's DZ-Bank has fallen victim to a cyberattack, with several tens of thousands of customers of DG Immobilien Management (DGIM) affected, a spokeswoman for DZ-Bank in Frankfurt said on Saturday. Arne Dedert/dpa

A property subsidiary of Germany's DZ-Bank has fallen victim to a cyberattack, with several tens of thousands of customers of DG Immobilien Management (DGIM) affected, a spokeswoman for DZ-Bank in Frankfurt said on Saturday.

The exact number of those affected was still unclear. Data from DZ-Bank customers were not affected, she said.

DZ-Bank and its fund subsidiary has formed a task force, she said. "We are currently in the process of working through all of this," said the spokeswoman. DGIM had warned its customers in a letter that "personal data of investors could have been leaked."

Not only address data, but also dates of birth, investment amounts, account data, tax numbers, notifications from the tax authorities and various correspondence and supporting documents could have been leaked, the Rheinische Post local newspaper reported.

The fund subsidiary is warning the investors concerned about attempts to defraud them with this data.

DGIM is part of the DZ-Bank Group, which is the central institution of the banks Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank.

The investors acquired DGIM products via the local cooperative banks, the Rheinische Post reported.