A cunning Lithuanian man has reportedly managed to rip off two American tech companies for $100 million in total through a phishing scam, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday. The perpetrator, Evaldas Rimasauskas, pulled off an intricate phishing scheme that deceived the companies from at least 2013 until 2015. He posed as a computer hardware manufacturer from Asia and tricked the companies into wiring him the huge sum. He was arrested late last week.
Tech giants: vulnerable
According to authorities, Rimasauskas, 48, purportedly scammed the companies by carrying out a business email compromise scheme.
He sent phishing emails to the staff of the companies who then proceeded to conduct regular multimillion-dollar deals with the “Asian firm.”
The names of the companies remain undisclosed, but New York authorities referred to them as “multinational internet companies.” One company was described as a multinational online social media company” and the other a “multinational technology company.”
Allegations filed in the indictment states that the scammer had already dispersed the wired cash to several accounts across the globe, including Hong Kong, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia and Hong Kong.
Cybercrimes: Big in the US
The victim companies have since sought help from the FBI for the capture of Rimasauskas, who also forged letters, contracts, and invoices.
Most of the stolen cash has been recovered, and the sly artist is now facing charges of three counts of money laundering, each carrying a 20-year sentence, and one count of wire fraud. Additionally, the conman is charged with one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a 2-year sentence at a minimum.
The FBI also recently announced a $3 million bounty for a Russian hacker, the most ever for a cyber criminal, charged with money laundering, wire fraud, and computer fraud. The hacker, Evgeniy Bogachev, reportedly created a network that siphoned millions of dollars from several bank accounts around the world.
