"Cyber-thieves Scam New Hampshire Town Out of $2.3m"

A New Hampshire town is reeling from the "very shocking" cybercrime that claimed more than 14% of its annual budget.  Peterborough is a town of 7000 people, with a budget for the fiscal year of just over $15.8m. Adversaries conned the town out of $2.3m through two business email compromise (BEC) scams.  First, the criminals used forged documents and compromised email accounts to pose as staff at the local school district. This enabled the adversaries to divert a million-dollar transfer made to the district by the town into a bank account under their control.  The theft came to light on July 26 when the ConVal School District notified the town that it had missed a $1.2m monthly payment.  On August 18, it emerged that the adversaries had stolen more money by posing as general contractor Beck and Bellucci, hired by the town to repair Main Street Bridge.  An investigation into the thefts has been launched by the United States Secret Service. During the investigation, researchers discovered that the forged email exchanges used in the attack originated overseas.  The town is reviewing its procedures regarding electronic financial transfers and has canceled all automated clearing house transfers.

Infosecurity reports: "Cyber-thieves Scam New Hampshire Town Out of $2.3m"