e-Banking Bandits Stole $465,000 From Calif. Escrow Firm
Summary: Attackers broke into the network of Village View Escrow Inc., a Redondo Beach, California escrow firm, in March and sent 26 consecutive wire transfers to 20 individuals around the world, stealing $465,000. The thieves disabled the bank's email wire notifications and defeated a two-employee sign-off requirement after a Trojan hidden in a fake UPS invoice infected the PCs of owner Michelle Marisco and her assistant, the second approver.
Bottom line: Marisco had to take out a $395,000 loan at 12 percent to cover the loss after only $70,000 in wires was reversed, and her bank disavowed responsibility early on. Several wires went internationally, including $88,000 to PrivateBank in Latvia and $94,000 to Norvika Bank, also in Latvia, while the rest went to small business owners recruited through work-at-home job scams.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Data Breaches
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