Hacker steal $139,000 from the Account of Town of Pittsford

At the beginning of June 2011, hackers steal $139,000 from the Town of Pittsford's payroll account, as reported by 13abc WHAM on June 13, 2011. Supervisor of Pittsford Town Bill Carpenter claims that they did not know about the missing money because the theft took place during the pay periods.

The Town, which was able to make payroll, has been working with FBI about the case and has recovered $4,800 from the scam. The incident occurred during the first week of June 2011, when someone logged into the town's online commercial banking account using a Trojan horse; a malicious software that seems to be useful was used to steal information. They wired the money through various places in the U.S. and internationally.

Spokesperson of the Town, Shelley O'Brien, stated that, they had anti-virus software, firewalls and all security measures, but it still took place, as reported by Democrat AND Chronicle on June 15, 2011. She added that, no matter who the users are, they will be susceptible as new viruses are coming out on a daily basis, and the hackers make it their business.

In the coming four business days, the thieves started another three fake batch payments to money mules. Some transfers went to money mules that run businesses, like a $14,750 payment to Mission Viejo, Calif. based Art Snyder Software. Most money mules get payments below $5,000.

Pittsford town supervisor William Carpenter stated that, the FBI is working on the case. Carpenter added that, the fraud was not caught for days. He informed that the town usually does its direct deposit payroll bi-weekly on Wednesdays and that the first fake transfers occurred during non-payroll week, as reported by Krebson Secuirty on June 10, 2011.

Carpenter claimed that, the website include a user name, password, some security questions. Customers also have the option of registering their systems, which involves installing a CNB certificate or cookie. As per the bank's website, when users log in from a registered system they are not told to answer a security question to complete the process.

The FBI continues to investigate the matter, although much still remains gloomy.

Related article: Hacker & Virus in MySpace

» SPAMfighter News - 6/25/2011