Caixa restricts operations at lottery outlets after a "technological incident" with its systems.

Caixa Econômica Federal limited transactions with financial services at lottery outlets to R$ 2.000 this Wednesday (22), after a “technological incident” affected the units’ systems. Deposits and bill payments are among the restricted operations.

According to reporting by Folha de S.Paulo , lottery shop owners reported that services began to be suspended around 15:30 pm on Tuesday (21). About an hour later, the entire payment system had been preventively shut down, without any explanation from the state bank.

Caixa did not publicly size or detail the incident. On Wednesday, the bank sent out an information bulletin to lottery agents with guidelines on irregularities detected in the stores. The document indicates that contingency measures will be maintained until Monday (27) and will only affect deposit services and the receipt of bills from other banks.

Suspected cyberattack

Anel (National Association of Lottery Business Owners) told Folha de S.Paulo that the technological incident was, in fact, an organized cyberattack that caught the entire network by surprise. The report found that some establishments reported attacks involving nearly R$ 500.

According to a report by Folha, the BNLData portal initially reported the system outage. Lottery business owners in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul reported irregularities in Caixa's banking systems, with unauthorized processing of bill payments ranging from R$ 4.500 to R$ 5.000, according to the website.

Behind the scenes, lottery shop owners reported that, while the systems were being shut down on Tuesday afternoon (21), the Caixa sector responsible for dealing with business owners was meeting in a “crisis room” throughout the afternoon. No information had been passed on by the bank until early Wednesday morning.

Industry reaction

Many business owners are still unaware of what happened. Ricardo Amado Costa, president of Febralot (Brazilian Federation of Lottery Business Owners) and administrator of lottery outlets in Mato Grosso do Sul, said, "I have two stores, nothing abnormal, but several had limited services and then, I imagine for safety reasons, some services in general were suspended."

Sincoesp (Union of Commissioners and Consignees of São Paulo), which represents authorized lottery houses and games in the state, declared on Tuesday (21) that it was not possible to determine what happened. “Any position from us would be pure guesswork. We understand that only Caixa, responsible for the technology and management of lottery houses, can give an explanation about what happened,” said José Carlos Pereira de Paiva, president of the union.

Caixa assured that the incident “will not cause losses to lottery business owners or customers.” In the bulletin sent to the branches, the bank informed that “Caixa teams remain mobilized to address the incident and that new instructions will be communicated promptly, as the work progresses.”