Scammer Tricked Two US Tech Companies Into Wiring $100 Million, Officials Say

A Lithuanian man was charged for tricking two U.S. tech companies into wiring $100 million through a phishing scam, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The scammer, Evaldas Rimasauskas, who was arrested late last week, deceived the companies from at least 2013 until 2015, officials said.

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The names of the firms were not disclosed, but were described as “multinational internet companies” and referred to as the “Victim Companies” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. One company was described as a “multinational technology company” and the other a “multinational online social media company.”

Rimasauskas, 48, allegedly scammed the companies by carrying out a business email compromise scheme targeting the two firms, authorities said. He allegedly posed as an Asian-based computer hardware manufacturer, and sent phishing emails to the staff of the companies, which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with the Asian firm.

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Rimasauskas tricked the companies into wiring $100 million to bank accounts in Latvia and Cyprus that were controlled by him. After the money was transferred, Rimasauskas wired the stolen funds to various other bank accounts worldwide, including in Latvia, Cyprus, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary and Hong Kong.

Authorities said Rimasauskas also forged invoices, contracts and letters.

Most of the stolen money has been recovered, but the attack shows how vulnerable big tech companies are.

“This case should serve as a wake-up call to all companies – even the most sophisticated – that they too can be victims of phishing attacks by cyber criminals,” said U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim in a statement. “And this arrest should serve as a warning to all cyber criminals that we will work to track them down, wherever they are, to hold them accountable.”

Rimasauskas is charged with one count of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of aggravated identity theft.