Through a statement, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, USA, confirmed that it has been the victim of a phishing attack using manipulated invoices that generated a loss of more than 2 million dollars intended for the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump. The attack would have occurred just a few days ago and was discovered on October 22.
"On Friday, October 23, we notified the FBI that, as a result of this cyberattack, hackers obtained $ 2.3 million through manipulated invoices on behalf of our suppliers," the statement read. Andrew Hitt, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party says the threat actors could have stolen the money by tampering with legitimate invoices, although no further details have been provided.
“The attackers employed a sophisticated phishing attack, stealing funds intended for the reelection of President Trump; Although a large sum of money was stolen, our operations are operating normally, ”Hitt added.
Kevin Epstein, vice president of security firm Proofpoint, believes this is an attack similar to the popular business email engagement campaigns against private companies: “These attacks employ highly crafted emails requesting urgent transfers to controlled accounts. by cybercriminals ”.
Although the attack took place a few days before the presidential election, the leaders of the Republican Party rule out that the attackers were politically motivated: “We cannot speculate on the specific purposes of the criminals, although the intention to obtain easy money seems to be the only explanation behind the attack, ”concludes Hitt. The passage of time has sophisticated the methods of the operators of these campaigns.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that more than 24,000 complaints related to business email compromise were recorded during 2019, generating losses of up to $ 1.7 billion. The main centres of operation for criminals are in California, Florida, Texas and New York.
