June 6, 2024 at 09:35AM
The US Justice Department seeks to recover over $5 million stolen from a trade union by cyber scammers through a BEC scam. The fraud involved spoofing emails, recruiting money mules, and rapidly moving funds between bank accounts. The department aims to stop such scams, which cause estimated daily losses of $8 million in the US.
The US Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $5 million in stolen funds from a trade union, which were taken by cybercriminals using a business email compromise (BEC) scam. The department has identified seven bank accounts in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Nigeria holding $5.3 million of the stolen funds. The funds are currently seized, and a civil forfeiture action has been filed to recover the money.
The scam targeted the trade union and its investment manager, who regularly communicated via email and conducted wire transfers on behalf of the union. The BEC scam was initiated when the perpetrators spoofed the investment manager’s email address and convinced the union to transfer $6.4 million to a bank account controlled by the scammers.
The scam involved recruiting money mules to help launder the proceeds through offshore accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges, with the mules receiving promises of substantial payouts. The money transfers between multiple accounts appeared to be attempts to conceal the source of the funds.
While the majority of the stolen funds have been seized, some were moved into cryptocurrency, posing challenges for recovery. The Justice Department highlighted the prevalence of BEC scams across the country, with estimated daily losses of $8 million and yearly losses of $2.9 billion.
The case underscores the ongoing threat of cybercrime and the need for robust security measures to protect against BEC scams and fraudulent fund transfers.