Fraudsters hack contractor’s email, defraud Greater Sudbury out of $1.5M
CTV
Greater Sudbury is hoping to recover $1.5 million it believed it was sending to a city contractor, but actually landed in the hands of scam artists.
Greater Sudbury is hoping to recover $1.5 million it believed it was sending to a city contractor, but actually landed in the hands of scam artists.
It emerged later that the contractor’s email had been hacked and the fraudsters managed to convince staff at Greater Sudbury that the business had new banking information.
The city accepted the new bank info and sent payment, unaware they weren’t dealing with the actual contractor.
The project in question is the troubled Lorraine Street transitional housing project. The contractor who was doing the work, Nomodic Modular Structures, went bankrupt and the work was then given to Flex Modular last November.
But in December, the email of a senior project manager at Flex was hacked. Using the manager’s email address, the fraudsters sent the city a message claiming that they changed banks and that all funds should be sent to the new account.
“The email included the entire legitimate email chain referred to above and included all of the same documents previously submitted by (the project manager),” the city said in court documents.
Subsequent emails from the city were intercepted by the fraudsters and on Dec. 21, the city sent a payment of $1.5 million that was deposited in the fraudster’s account.
