Would Your Insurance Cover Online Banking Fraud?
| Organized cyber thieves recently stole more than $600,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, IA. The funds were spirited away with the help of dozens of unwitting co-conspirators hired through work-at-home job scams, according to KrebsOnSecurity.com.
The diocese said the fraud occurred in mid-August, apparently after criminals had stolen the diocese’s online banking credentials. The diocese was alerted to the fraud by its financial institution. |
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The diocese also said the FBI and U.S. Treasury Department were notified, and that the FBI had taken possession of several diocesan computers. To date, roughly $180,000 has been recovered.
The diocese added that law enforcement had advised them that the theft seems to have been the work of a highly sophisticated operation based overseas, which moved the stolen money out of the U.S. by recruiting people who unknowingly act as intermediaries.
“While the Diocese of Des Moines is protected by insurance and anticipates the restoration of the funds, we have been advised that such criminal activity is rampant,” Des Moines Bishop Richard Pates said.
Because the bank’s security systems were not breached, the diocese’s computers used for banking are likely to be found infected with malicious software, designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner’s informed consent.
Is Your Company Prepared For The Threat Of Online Banking Fraud?
With a loss of more that $600,000 and quick recovery of only $180,000, someone is going to have a cash flow problem until the insurance claims are filed and paid. The other thing to note from the story is the FBI took possession of several computers, which had to have an impact on their ability to do business.
With cyber crime on the rise, we believe this is a risk you, your insurance agent and your trusted IT person should be reviewing. ◆