Slashdot reader lowvisioncomputing shares a story from the CBC about an elaborate heist discovered “when the chief administrative officer of a southwestern Manitoba rural municipality [population: 3,300] noticed the series of unusual cash withdrawals from its bank account….”
It began with a job advertisement. A seemingly legitimate company, with a professional website and a Nova Scotia address, claimed it was looking for cash processors. The contract was for one month. Employees could work from home.
They were told they would receive payments to their credit cards, which they would be expected to move to their bank accounts. They would then withdraw the payments, convert them into bitcoin, and send that to another account…. The majority of the 18 people hired were young and lived in various communities across the country…. Anyone who did an internet search for the company would find a professional website, with information matching what was provided in the employment agreement.
In early December 2019, the cybercriminals sent a phishing email to multiple people at the municipal office of WestLake-Gladsone, a municipality about 150 kilometres west of Winnipeg, on the southwestern shore of Lake Manitoba. At least one person clicked on the link, which allowed the hackers to get into the municipality’s computers and bank accounts. But weeks went by and nothing happened, so the municipality didn’t report it to the police. It was only after the money…
