Two separate businesses in the West Shore have reported being targeted by cyber scammers over the past four months.
West Shore RCMP are investigating the IT breach and compromised financial security systems at the two companies.
The attack was conducted by the fraudsters who assumed the e-mail address of the business manager and then sent e-mails to the accounting departments ordering them to conduct wire transfers to third party accounts.
Both companies reported that a foreign IP address was detected in their systems and attempted to create these fraudulent payments.
According to West Shore RCMP Cst. Nancy Saggar, the first business lost a total of $200,000 amount of money to this scam.
Luckily, the second business did not lose any money to the attackers, as the fraud attempt was identified before any money transfers occurred.
“The potential for loss is huge and we would like to remind the public to be vigilant in vetting incoming e-malis,” said Cst. Nancy Saggar in a release.
“If you don’t recognize the sender don’t open the e-mail or respond to it. Keep your passwords safe and it’s a good idea to change them frequently.”
