More SWIFT thefts coming to light

[Mousey]

If you haven't heard about millions stolen from various banks using the SWIFT system already, google it if you're interested (frankly, I'm afraid the thefts actually reported by banks so far are only the tip of the iceberg)....

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Security firm FireEye, investigating the hack, has been contacted by numerous other banks, including some in New Zealand and the Philippines. While most of the attempted transfers in the original heist were cancelled, some $81 million was sent to the Philippines and subsequently laundered through casinos. The SWIFT organization in a statement said that some of these reports may be false positives, and that banks should rigorously review their computing environments to look for hackers.Security firm FireEye, investigating the hack, has been contacted by numerous other banks, including some in New Zealand and the Philippines. While most of the attempted transfers in the original heist were cancelled, some $81 million was sent to the Philippines and subsequently laundered through casinos. The SWIFT organization in a statement said that some of these reports may be false positives, and that banks should rigorously review their computing environments to look for hackers.

 

[Mousey]

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, though a couple months old...

back in the Philippines, the gaming regulator said it is investigating reports that as much as $100 million in suspicious funds were remitted to the bank accounts of three casinos it didn’t identify.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer has led reporting on the theft. It wrote last month that cash may have entered the Philippines via the Jupiter Street, Makati City, branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. The money was converted into pesos and deposited in the account of an unidentified Chinese-Filipino businessman who runs a business flying high net worth gamblers to the Philippines.

The funds were used to buy casino chips or pay for losses at venues including Bloomberry Resorts Corp.’s Solaire Resort & Casino and Melco Crown Philippines Resort Corp.’s City of Dreams Manila, according to the paper. There was no suggestion in the report the banks or casinos named were complicit with any improper movement of funds.

In other words, the Fed was funding gamblers, only these were located in Philippine casinos, not in the financial district. Ironically, that's precisely what the Fed does, only it normally operates with gamblers operating out of Manhattan's financial district.

 

[Vicky]

SWIFT system is not perfect but unfortunately we don't have any other substitute for it as yet. We have a Bitcoin but it also is prone for hacking and money laundering

 

[Mousey]

and new SWIFT thefts

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SWIFT, the global financial messaging system, on Tuesday disclosed new hacking attacks on its member banks as it pressured them to comply with security procedures instituted after February's high-profile $81 million heist at Bangladesh Bank.

In a private letter to clients, SWIFT said that new cyber-theft attempts - some of them successful - have surfaced since June, when it last updated customers on a string of attacks discovered after the attack on the Bangladesh central bank.

"Customers’ environments have been compromised, and subsequent attempts (were) made to send fraudulent payment instructions," according to a copy of the letter reviewed by Reuters. "The threat is persistent, adaptive and sophisticated - and it is here to stay."

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