Local loses cash after login info hacked
(CNS): The RCIPS Financial Crime Unit is urging people to use a different password for each website they log into and to change the password immediately if any of those websites are hacked. The FCU said they had been made aware of an incident where hackers were able to steal funds from a person in the Cayman Islands using compromised email information. It is strongly suspected that the hackers were able to obtain the victim’s login information from a data breach several years ago of a commercial website for which the registration and login was done with an email address as a username plus a password.
Using the information stolen during the data breach, the hackers were able to access the victim’s email account and monitor for any financial activity. “They then used that opportunity to send fraudulent wire instructions from a spoofed email account to the sender/victim of the lost funds,” the FCU said.
In light of this latest scam, the FCU is making the following recommendations to ensure the safety of email and login information:
- As a general rule it is strongly advised to use an entirely different password for each website you use. You may wish to consider using a password manager to organise and retrieve strong passwords securely.
- It is also advised to avoid linking your email address to websites through use of your email as a username, especially email addresses that are used to conduct sensitive business and financial transactions.
- Most specifically, it is important to change your passwords immediately if a service you have been using experiences a data breach. If you are currently aware of any such breaches that may affect you and you have not changed your passwords yet, you should still do so immediately.
The FCU stressed that even though a breach may have occurred some time ago, the stolen information is still out there and could be used at any time. And just because victims have not seen any suspicious activity yet does not mean it cannot still happen.
People who use a website where they login may not know if that site’s data has been breached, and the FCU suggests proactively checking an online breach database to see if any site you use has been compromised.
One example is the website www.haveibeenpwnd.com,where you can plug in an email address and see if it is associated with any known data breaches.
“Again, if any of the sites which use that email address have been compromised, you should immediately change any passwords associated with that email address,” the FCU stressed.
If you suspect that you have an email account containing sensitive information that has been compromised, please contact the FCU at RCIPS.FCU@gov.ky or at 949-8797.
While I apologize for those whose funds have been stolen, the next best step here is to sign up for a password manager, such as 1Password, LastPass or KeePass. They include random password generators that you can change your passwords to improving your security by many fold. 1Password for example includes a feature that scans your passwords to see if they’re weak, lack 2fa or have been exposed in a compromised hack. These password managers provide peace of mind and you only need to remember one password, your master password. Yes some cost money but $2 month is defintely worth you’re security. Just my 2 cents.
Our AMEX number and billing details were skimmed from an online subscription service that was hacked by “Anonymous”. The looters sold the subscriber data on the Dark Net, and we still periodically get weird multi-thousand dollar charges billed fraudulently to our account, even though the card was cancelled almost a decade ago. How could that be, is a fair question, but unless it’s happened to you, it’s hard to understand how violating and long-lasting this can be.
In the UK scammers are still using data obtained when TalkTalk was hacked back in 2015. I had an account with them and immediately closed it but people are still sending me threatening emails on the old TalkTalk email address quoting the password.
The rule is simple – if an organisation you’re dealing with gets hit (like BA just did!) change everything. Personally, if anybody I’m doing business with gets hacked like this I dump them and go elsewhere.
This doesn’t add up. If a financial institution in Cayman actioned a fraudulent wire, they would have culpability in recovering the funds, having not confirmed authority over a certain amount, and by knowing the destination institution, account recipient and number it ought to be easy for law enforcement to locate and recover. Wires can also be recalled within a window of time. Banks should also carry electronic crime insurance.
It’s not that the bank system is compromised it’s an intercept scam, usually if you are being sent details of where to pay someone, ie an invoice, shipping cost, goods etc the email account is hacked and the email is intercepted. The payment details changed to that of the criminal. Most overseas banks don’t employ a name/number matching system, instead relying on just the account number. So the criminal can leave the payee name the same, replacing the bank and account number with their own. You could be thinking you are paying Sears, yet the account number belongs to Mr A Criminal. If you are scammed then the first you would know might be the legitimate recipient asking where there money is, you check with the bank, the bank says yes we paid it where you asked us to, and its a couple of weeks to unravel, by which time the money is long gone. The account to receive the money could have been hacked at the other end, or a mule used who unwittingly ‘lends’ his account to receive and pay the money for a small fee, or opened with fraudulent documents. It’s surprising how easily this is done with ‘onshore’ banks.