According to the statement, in the interval March 2010 - April 2011, the FBI has reportedly identified 20 incidents in which the transfers were initiated, whose losses totaled about USD11 million, whereas attempted thefts totaled about USD 20 million. In addition, the statement has specified that such unauthorized transfers typically ranged from USD 50,000 to USD 985,000.
Moreover, the statement reports that in a typical scenario, the computer of a person within a company who can initiate funds transfers on behalf of the US business is compromised by either a phishing e-mail or by visiting a malicious website. Thus, the malware harvests the user’s corporate online banking credentials.
When the authorized user attempts to log in to the user’s bank website, the user is typically redirected to another webpage stating the bank website is either under maintenance or unable to access the accounts. While the user is experiencing logon issues, malicious actors initiate the unauthorized transfers to commercial accounts held at intermediary banks typically located in New York. Account funds are then transferred to the Chinese economic and trade company bank account, FBI has revealed.
Furthermore, the statement reports that intended recipients of the unauthorized transfers come from companies that are registered in port cities that are located near the Russia-China border.
In related news , in the US, 85 percent of the consumers have reported being worried and dissatisfied with the level of protection that online businesses offer to stop fraudsters, which is up 5 percent from 2009, according to a joint research conducted by the US device identification services company ThreatMetrix and the research organization Ponemon Institute.
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