Hezbollah lender hit by hackers exposing hundreds of accounts

The group behind the purported hack urged debtors to default on loans

A video grab from Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV shows the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, during an interview on December 27, 2020. EPA

A Hezbollah-affiliated financial establishment has been hit by hackers who claim to have posted online records that would lay bare a complex financial network with thousands of clients across Lebanon.

A Hezbollah representative confirmed to The National that there had been a breach at Al Qard Al Hassan but said it was limited in scope. The official did not confirm the authenticity of the leaked databases, which The National couldn't verify independently.

Founded in the 1980s as a non-governmental organisation, Al Qard Al Hassan, which translates into Benevolent Loan, was subject to US sanctions in 2007. It provides various financial services including interest-free loans in US dollars.

It has lately attracted attention for its extensive network of ATMs in Hezbollah strongholds, and for providing dollar-denominated loans amid Lebanon’s worst economic and financial crisis in decades.

The leaked records include Al Qard Al Hassan’s customer database, financial statements and details of its accounts at Lebanese commercial banks, the hackers said.

In a video published online, the group, who go by the name of Spiderz, said they had hacked the lender’s servers and promised to disclose more information.

Lebanon - A year in pictures

Carlos Ghosn's home at Ashrafieh St., in Beirut, Lebanon. Sunniva Rose for The National

Japanese journalists that were waiting outside, including when they were filming a car leaving Ghosn's house (unfortunately the driver did not look like him). Sunniva Rose for The National

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 17: People wave Lebanese flags and chant to mark the one-year anniversary of anti-government protests with a background of the destroyed silos on the seaport on October 17, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. On the one year anniversary since the unprecedented mass protests of Lebanese demanding political change as the country buckled under social and economic devastation, Beirut remains in rubble after the August 4 port blast. (Photo by Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - JUNE 11: Protesters burn tires as large-scale protests resume on June 11, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. The Lebanese pound has lost 70% of its value since October when protests began. Although they abated during the coronavirus lockdown, the country's economic condition steadily worsened. (Photo by Diego Ibarra Sanchez/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 04: Protesters hold torches and nooses, which have become symbols of public anger against the Lebanese government, as they commemorate a month since the city's deadly explosion on September 4, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. On August 4th, a fire at Beirut's port ignited a stockpile of ammonium nitrate causing a massive explosion that killed more than 200 people, destroyed surrounding neighborhoods and upended countless lives. (Photo by Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 10: Firefighters walk through a burned out warehouse as they respond to a huge blaze at Beirut port on September 10, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. The fire broke out in a structure in the city's heavily damaged port facility, the site of last month's explosion that killed more than 190 people. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 08: Protesters throw stones during an anti-government demonstrations on August 8, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. The Lebanese capital is reeling from this week's massive explosion that killed at least 150 people, wounded thousands, and destroyed wide swaths of the city. Residents are demanding accountability for the blast, whose suspected cause was 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored for years at the city's port. (Photo by Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 12: An anti-government protester gives water to a policeman after other protesters attacked his vehicle during a march toward the Presidential Palace, on September 12, 2020 in Baabda, Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 12: Anti-government protesters clash with security forces during a march toward the Presidential Palace, on September 12, 2020 in Baabda, Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - JANUARY 22: Anti government protesters and riot police clash during a second day of violence, on January 22, 2020 in an upscale shopping district in Beirut, Lebanon. Weeks of bickering between the Hezbollah-allied political factions backing Lebanon's new Prime Minister Hassan Diab as to who gets which ministries has led protesters to decry his new government as partisan and political, and not the technocratic leadership they have been demanding since protests began on Oct 17th last year. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 07: An aerial view of ruined structures near the city's port, the site of Tuesday's explosion, on August 7, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. By Friday, the official death toll from Tuesday's blast stood at 145, with thousands injured. Public anger swelled over the possibility that government negligence over the storage of tons of ammonium nitrate was behind the catastrophe. (Photo by Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 05: An aerial view of ruined structures at the port, damaged by an explosion a day earlier, on August 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. As of Wednesday, more than 100 people were confirmed dead, with thousands injured, when an explosion rocked the Lebanese capital. Officials said a waterfront warehouse storing explosive materials, reportedly 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, was the cause of the blast. (Photo by Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - FEBRUARY 11: Anti-government protesters are hit by a water cannon as they pull down a concrete barricade during a failed attempt to block politicians from accessing Parliament where they will vote whether to accept Lebanon's new government, on February 11, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 5: Destroyed buildings are visible a day after a massive explosion occurred at the port on Aug. 5, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. As of Wednesday morning, more than 100 people were confirmed dead, with thousands injured, when an explosion rocked the Lebanese capital. Officials said a waterfront warehouse storing explosive materials, reportedly 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, was the cause of the blast. (Photo by Daniel Carde/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 10: An aerial view of the black smoke following a fire that erupted in Beirut Ports Free Zone on September 10, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. The fire broke out in a structure in the city's heavily damaged port facility, the site of last month's explosion that killed more than 190 people. (Photo by Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 17: Family members mourn as the coffins of firefighters Charbel Hetti, Najeeb Hetti and Charbel Karem who were killed in the August 4th, Beirut port explosion are carried to the church during their funeral service in their hometown of Qartaba on August 17, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. Najeeb Hetti, 27 his cousin Charbel Hetti, 22 and his sisters husband Charbel Karam, 37 were killed during the Beirut port explosion along with 7 other firefighters from the Karatina fire department, who were the first responders to the blaze. The remains of Najeeb and Charbel were found on August 13th, however the family refused to bury them until the body of Charbel Karam was found, his remains were recovered on August 15th. There has been little visible support from government agencies to help residents clear debris and help the displaced, although scores of volunteers from around Lebanon have descended on the city to help clean. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - AUGUST 07: A general view of buildings heavily damaged in Tuesday's explosion, on August 7, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. By Friday, the official death toll from Tuesday's blast stood at 145, with thousands injured. Public anger swelled over the possibility that government negligence over the storage of tons of ammonium nitrate was behind the catastrophe. (Photo by Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 30: A demonstrator throws stones at police at an anti-France protest on October 30, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. Following a series of deadly attacks, France's President Macron declared a crackdown on Islamist extremism by shutting down mosques and other organisations accused of instigating violence. The comments sparked protests across the Muslim world and calls for a boycott of French goods. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)

-- AFP PICTURES OF THE YEAR 2020 -- An injured man lies at the back of a car before being rushed away from the scene of a massive explosion at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. Two huge explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, some bloodied, after the massive explosions, the cause of which was not immediately known. - / AFP / Marwan TAHTAH

-- AFP PICTURES OF THE YEAR 2020 -- A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. AFP / STR

One leaked record details over 200,000 outstanding loans as of December 2019. Another included what it said were account numbers for Qard Al Hassan accounts at several Lebanese banks, including Jamal Trust Bank, the Lebanese lender that was a target of US sanctions last year.

Several people listed on the data set confirmed they were customers with outstanding loans from Al Qard Al Hassan but could not verify the authenticity of the complete list.

"It could be a breach of Qard Al Hassan's servers or an employee's email, or simply a leak from an insider with access to the data," a senior Lebanese cyber security expert told The National. "It's impossible to tell at this stage."

The group behind the hack called on those with debts not to settle their loans and urged those with deposits to withdraw their money or risk losing it. The Hezbollah official, however, contested the calls and said deposits were safe.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has been the target of mounting US sanctions that recently hit some of its closest allies, including MP Gebran Bassil, the president’s son-in-law and leader of the largest Christian party in Parliament.

The sanctions have prompted Hezbollah and its supporters to harden their political stance, complicating negotiations to form a new Cabinet that commits to reforms including a forensic audit of the Central Bank, a prerequisite for international financial support for Lebanon.

Lebanon has been without a fully functioning Cabinet since the deadly explosion that ripped through Beirut port in August, killing about 200 people and forcing the government’s resignation.

The caretaker government has failed to bring in any of the major reforms demanded by the international community.

In a recent report, The Wall Street Journal said the US was considering sanctions against the Central Bank and senior officials over links to Hezbollah.