FBI Alerts China-Related Wire Transfer

Some U.S. companies may unwittingly be helping to provide millions of dollars in illicit financing to businesses in China. U.S. businesses to be on the lookout for online account takeovers and fraudulent Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions.

The businesses in the U.S. lost more than $11 million in the past year due to online scams, which included stealing of banking credentials in fraudulent wire transfers to companies in China. These China-related wire transfer fraud victimized small-to- medium scale businesses, FBI said; as written by CNET News Senior writer Elinor Mills. Twenty incidents were recorded from March 2010 to April 2011.


(CNET)

Small and medium-size businesses in the U.S. lost more than $11 million over the past year in online scams in which stolen banking credentials were used in fraudulent wire transfers to companies in China, the FBI said.

There were 20 such incidents between March 2010 and April 2011, affecting companies and public institutions in the U.S. that tend to have accounts at local community banks and credit unions, some of which use third-party service providers for online banking services, according to the agency. The amounts transferred at any one time ranged from tens of thousands of dollars to nearly $1 million.

This is sad and scary. Now that the world is mostly online, providing effective security measures must be in place. Thanks, Andy. Rated up!