FTX creditors sue Kroll over data breach and phishing attacks

FTX creditors filed a class-action lawsuit against Kroll Restructuring Administration in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The plaintiffs claim Kroll’s August 2023 data breach exposed their personal information and caused ongoing phishing email attacks.

Jacob Kevyn Repko, an FTX account holder, leads the lawsuit on behalf of crypto creditors affected by the breach. Repko claims the security incident threatens his ability to recover nearly $90,000 from the FTX estate. The complaint alleges Kroll failed to protect creditor data and did not properly address the aftermath of the breach.

The lawsuit claims that compromised data continues to fuel phishing attempts against creditors. FTX creditors report receiving near-daily scam emails since the breach. The plaintiffs argue that Kroll’s heavy reliance on email communication made it easy for scammers to impersonate legitimate notices and confuse creditors. The creditors seek damages and operational changes to Kroll’s claims administration processes. 

Kroll is the court-appointed claims and noticing agent for the FTX bankruptcy. On August 25, 2023, the company disclosed that hackers accessed its cloud systems through a SIM-swapping attack targeting an employee. The breach compromised creditor records from FTX, BlockFi, and Genesis bankruptcy cases.

According to Kroll’s incident report, the exposed information included names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, unique identifiers, and account balances in some cases. The company stated there is no evidence hackers accessed the customer proof of claim portals.

Kroll warned creditors to stay alert for fraud attempts and verify information only through official Kroll or FTX case websites. The company emphasizes that neither Kroll nor the court will ask claimants to link crypto wallets, share seed phrases, or download software during the distribution process.

The lawsuit comes as FTX prepares its next creditor distribution. FTX announced the anticipated record date is August 15, 2025, with distributions expected on or about September 30, 2025. The court granted FTX’s service management authority to reduce the disputed claims reserve by about $1.9 billion, releasing funds for the upcoming distribution.