Threat watch / Breach
Illicado: copies of 15,000 company e-gift cards taken in an automated attack
Illicado, a French multi-brand gift card company, told AFP on November 6, 2026 that a cyberattack on November 1 targeted 15,000 digital gift cards (e-cards) bought by companies for their employees. Its email to clients describes a "targeted and automated" attack on the service that generates the e-cards' PDF documents. Illicado says it deactivated the cards, sent each holder a new e-card with the exact balance, that no payment had been made with them so far, and that it notified the CNIL.
- Sector
- Retail
- Way in
- Not public yet
- Product or vendor
- Illicado
- How it happened
- Illicado's email to clients describes a "targeted and automated" attack on the service that generates the e-cards' PDF documents, used to fraudulently obtain copies of e-cards. Illicado's monitoring detected and blocked it. The exact method, and how the attacker got past the application's protections, has not been made public.[1][2] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- What was stolen
- Copies of e-cards already issued for business orders in 2025 and 2026 that had not been fully used. Illicado has not said how much money was left on them. Whether beneficiaries' names and the cards' messages were in the copies is not confirmed by Illicado.[1][2] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- Who was impacted
- Companies that bought Illicado e-cards for their employees, and the employees holding them: 15,000 e-cards in all, according to Illicado. Illicado says holders have nothing to do and suffer no financial loss.[1][3] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- Threat actor
- Not attributed
Timeline
- The attack on Illicado's e-card PDF generation service takes place. [1][2]
- Illicado emails its business clients about a "targeted and automated" attack; the site Cyberattaque.org reports it. [1][2]
- Illicado confirms to AFP that 15,000 e-cards were targeted, that they were deactivated and replaced, and that no payment had been made with them so far. The CNIL has been notified. [1]
- MacGeneration relays a claim shown by the site French Breaches that some cards were used fraudulently; Illicado has not confirmed it. Cyberattaque.org lists Illicado among several gift card platforms hit since October, and says no link between these incidents is established. [3][4]