Simultaneous cyberattack hits Caixa lottery outlets in several states.
Unauthorized payments, terminals crashed, and unrecognized transfers: on Tuesday afternoon (July 21st), lottery business owners across Brazil reported intrusions into the Caixa Econômica Federal banking systems within their establishments. The first reports of unusual transactions began circulating around 3 PM in communication groups within the sector. The amounts varied between R$ 4.500,00 and R$ 5.000,00, with differences of minutes and seconds between transactions.
The attack simultaneously affected hundreds of lottery outlets in at least three states, according to reports exchanged between business owners. Payments were processed without the owners' authorization, reaching amounts of up to R$ 500 in a single location. One store in São Paulo recorded over R$ 300 in processed payments since the irregularities began. As of the time of this report, Caixa Econômica Federal had not issued any official statement regarding the incident.
Terminals shut down, crisis unfolds.
The first internal warning came from the business owners themselves. A message distributed to partners stated that "automatic monitoring of TFLs detected an atypical volume of transactions in several ULs" and that there was "a crisis room currently working to identify what is happening." The text confirmed "general intermittency" and service "unavailable in the ULs," without specifying a timeframe for normalization.
Faced with this situation, lottery outlets in several states began shutting down all equipment, "even those not affected," as reported by a business owner in industry groups. In Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo, several units were also affected. The network response was swift; owners instructed each other to generate cash flow reports to assess the losses and file police reports.
Lottery operators in São Paulo reported that Caixa (the Brazilian bank responsible for managing lottery services) acted centrally by blocking the acceptance of payment slips across its entire network, preventing new transactions but not reversing those already completed. A message directed to owners instructed them to access the "Partner Connection" system to check the consolidated transactions per terminal, with step-by-step instructions for accessing cash flow reports.
Caixa's silence fuels uncertainty.
The lack of an official statement from Caixa Econômica Federal is the point that most worries lottery business owners at the moment. Without a statement acknowledging the attack, clarifying the extent of the damage, and providing information about reimbursement, each owner is left to bear the cost of any potential losses alone.
In the communication groups, the tone of the messages oscillated between factual accounts and panic: "My system was hacked," "Mine was affected on all terminals," "It's a general problem, nothing is working." One owner even warned in capital letters for everyone to turn off "including the communication system."
The scale of the incident, with simultaneous occurrences in São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, and Rio Grande do Sul, points to a coordinated action against the banking infrastructure of lottery outlets. Who will assume responsibility for the unauthorized transactions and when the business owners will be reimbursed are questions that, so far, remain unanswered.
Note from the Box Office:
CAIXA informs that it identified, yesterday (21), a technological incident that affected the system of lottery units. Services have been restored.
The bank clarifies that the incident will not cause any losses to lottery business owners.
Best Regards,
CAIXA Press Office
