UNAPEN Warning:

Hackers using stolen AOL and Gmail info to send seemingly legitimate wire transfer requests to financial services firms is on the rise.

Increased Hacker Activity – Wire Transfer Requests

It is very common to see spam and other messages that appear to come from friends and we are all used to that.  However, over the past several months we have seen an increasing number of AOL, Gmail and other “free” accounts being hacked for more direct profit.

 Here’s What They are Doing to Financial Services Firms

In these instances, the web accounts are being compromised and the hackers are actually reading historical messages to uncover financial information.  They then use this information and the victim’s account to send wire transfer requests to financial services firms.  Since they have access to the victim’s email history, these requests contain accurate information that you would think only the sender would know.

 Beware and Verify

Please take extreme care in processing wire transfer requests as several of our clients have recently come very close to fulfilling a request that has been shown to be of this type.

Ken Rode is the Director of IT Services at UNAPEN