Dublin Zoo has confirmed on Wednesday that it has fallen victim to a phishing email attack that resulted in the loss of $700 million or £500,000 from the Zoo’s bank account. However, the organization said that it has reported the scam to the Gardai who have smartly investigated the matter within no time and succeeded in recovering most of the money.
Cybersecurity Insiders has learned from a source reporting to Irish Examiner that the cyber scam took place due to a phishing email scam related to invoice direct fraud where hackers intercepted an invoice related email sent to a company and manipulated it by altering the account details. Obviously, the hackers launched such phishing email scam to redirect the payment to the account which was under the cyber crook’s control.
It’s said that Dublin Zoo first reported the matter to the Gardai at Cabra Garba Station who immediately coordinated with the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau at Harcourt Square to launch an investigation to recover the money.
A spokesperson from Dublin Zoo further confirmed that no customer details were leaked in the said cyber attack and the investigation is still going on full swing.
For some reason, Gardai chose not to reveal more details of the cyber attack and is also not willing to disclose the details of those behind the attack.
Gardai, which happens to be the Central Police Command of the Republic of Ireland has also advised all businesses, both small and large, that under no circumstance should businesses agree to change the bank account number for a supplier or client just based on a phone call or email correspondence. They recommend to first verify the change with someone in charge of the activity the other side and then proceed with the activity.
