Scammers Stole $2.6m From Puerto Rico Government via a Phishing Attack

Phishing scams continue to target organizations and companies around the world, and according to recent reports, not even the governments are safe. The reports in question claim that the government of Puerto Rico recently became a victim of one such attack, during which it lost $2.6 million.

A senior Puerto Rico official says the island's government has lost more than $2.6 million after falling for an email phishing scam. https://t.co/JUovG2uddb

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 13, 2020

According to Ruben Rivera, the finance director of Industrial Development Company, the agency became a victim of an email phishing scam. In the complaint that Rivera filed to the police, the agency allegedly sent the money to an account owned by scammers. While the report was filed this Wednesday, February 12th, the incident itself seemingly took place nearly a month ago, on January 17th. Back then, the government agency received an email which claimed that the banking account tied to remittance payments was changed. However, the agency’s officials only realized their mistake earlier this week, as stated by the agency’s executive director, Manuel Laboy. He added that the scam was immediately reported to the FBI. Leboy also stressed the gravity of the situation by saying that it is an extremely serious issue, noting that the agency wants it to be investigated. Leboy refused to reveal how the agency uncovered the scam, or whether someone was dismissed from it. He also did not comment on how the agency’s operations were impacted by the lack of such a large amount. However, he did note that an internal investigation is already underway, and its goal is to ensure whether the incident was a result of negligence or if they failed to follow standard procedure. Meanwhile, government officials are focusing on recovering the stolen funds. While he and the government itself faced heavy criticism due to the incident, he stated that he cannot speculate about how the incident came to take place. Finally, Leboy stressed that the agency takes managing of public funds very seriously, noting that it is a big responsibility.