MoneyGram services restored but questions remain about cyber incident

Financial payment giant MoneyGram restored its website and several of its services following widespread outages that limited the ability of millions to send money to families around the world.

In a social media message on Thursday morning, the company said its website and app are now live and available. 

“Customers can send and receive money through both our digital platforms and agent partners. We continue to work diligently to fulfill pending transactions,” they said. 

The note came after MoneyGram explained that it was making progress in the restoration process on Wednesday, writing that several partners were now “available for sending and receiving money, including fulfilling pending transactions.”

Since last Friday, users from around the world have been up in arms about service outages MoneyGram said were caused by a “cybersecurity issue.”

MoneyGram has not responded to questions about the type of issue it is dealing with. Its initial statement said the incident forced the company to “take systems offline” and call in law enforcement for assistance. 

MoneyGram facilitates more than $200 billion in transactions each year in over 200 countries and territories — with a particularly important role in remittances sent to developing countries. 

Several governments across the Caribbean and more published statements warning their citizens that local partners of MoneyGram were also limited by the incident. 

No hacking group has taken credit for the incident as of Thursday morning.