The National File of Bank Accounts Hacked: 1.2 Million Accounts Exposed

On 18 February 2026, the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty announced that the national file of bank accounts (FICOBA) had been hacked. The Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) identified “unauthorized access” that allowed “a malicious actor” to consult, since late January 2026, data associated with 1.2 million bank accounts.

The cybercriminals reportedly “usurped the credentials of a civil servant with authorized access” to FICOBA in order to extract sensitive information: bank details (RIB/IBAN), the account holder’s identity, address and, in some cases, tax identification numbers. The file does not, however, contain any information about account balances or data enabling financial transactions to be carried out.

According to the Ministry, DGFiP teams took measures to halt the attack and prevent any further access to FICOBA. A criminal complaint has been filed and the incident has been reported to the French data protection authority (CNIL).

Affected users will receive a notification in the coming days. They are urged to remain particularly vigilant against social engineering scams and fraudulent direct debit attempts. Although banks are required to verify that any new direct debit authorization genuinely originates from the account holder, these checks remain widely regarded as insufficient.