Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid nearly $5 million to the hackers who shut off service to the largest fuel line in the US

• A major US gas provider forced to shut down a fuel line reportedly paid hackers nearly $5 million.
• Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid the ransom almost immediately after the attack last Friday.
• The nearly $5 million was said to have been paid in untraceable cryptocurrency.

The hackers who shut down the largest US fuel pipeline last week apparently got rich from the attack: The group received nearly $5 million to restore service, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

That ransom was paid in untraceable cryptocurrency, two people familiar with the transaction told Bloomberg.

Though previous reports said no money had changed hands, the Bloomberg report said Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom within hours of the attack last Friday. Representatives for the company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to Bloomberg, in exchange for the nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency, Colonial Pipeline got a decryption tool to help restore the company's computer systems that had been hobbled in the so-called ransomware attack.

"Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society," DarkSide, the hacking group thought to be responsible for the attack, said in a statement earlier this week. The group also promised to be more careful with its attacks "to avoid social consequences in the future."

Colonial Pipeline is responsible for nearly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast.

After the attack, several states had gas shortages, and some people rushed to hoard gasoline in anticipation of long shortages. The US Department of Energy has said it expects a return to normal supply by the end of the weekend.

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