Hackers stole nearly $1M from Save the Children charity
Posted Dec 13, 2018 9:06 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BOSTON — Save the Children says hackers stole nearly $1 million from the non-profit through a sophisticated email scam.
The Boston Globe reports that scammers hacked into the email of a worker at the charity’s U.S. offices last year, posed as an employee, and created false invoices and other documents to fool the non-profit into sending nearly $1 million to a fraudulent entity in Japan.
The scammers claimed the money was needed to purchase solar panels for health centres in Pakistan, a country where Save the Children has worked for decades.
The Save the Children Federation , the Fairfield, Connecticut-based U.S. affiliate of the international organization, said its insurance reimbursed all but $112,000 of the stolen funds.
The charity has since tightened its cybersecurity and bank transfer protocols to prevent fraud.
___
Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com
The Associated Press
