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micevan1l6

– businessman loses $20M in two weeks Computer hackers are wreaking havoc around the world and local businesses are being urged to take extra precaution in their overseas dealing, since the perpetrators seem to be targeting Guyanese importers.While it is believed that many Guyanese businessmen have suffered at the hands of the hackers, one of them was bold enough to speak about his loses although for obvious reasons he asked to remain anonymous.The Guyanese importer revealed that he has lost in excess of US$97,000 within the past two weeks and thankfully he was spared further loses after he contacted his overseas supplier.From initial investigations, the hackers, who are believed to be operating out of Africa, are tapping into email accounts and manipulating arrangements between importer and supplier, getting the importer to make payment to accounts that are in no way connected to the supplier.A check of the businessman’s e-mail login activity revealed that it was accessed on several occasions from Nigeria.“We have serious hacking in our system. What they are doing, they control your e-mail. They are rerouting all your mails, coming to you and going out from you. So when you think you are corresponding with your supplier, you are not, you are corresponding with them (hackers), and you are receiving emails that’s not coming from your supplier.“You are sending mails to your supplier that is not reaching your supplier. They are you and they are your supplier,” the businessman explained.“They are telling you what you want to hear and telling the supplier what he wants to hear,” he added.He said that he managed to discover the scam while he was talking to his supplier in India.During the conversation, he was receiving emails purportedly from his supplier that a shipment will be made in a few days time.But it could not be the supplier sending the mail because he had not yet received any payment for the cargo.The businessman said that he had received an email from the hackers pretending to be his supplier, directing him to make payment to a different account to the one he previously used.According to the businessman, alarm bells did not ring in his head since it appeared as a legitimate request.“There are suppliers that I would have sent payment to for the last five years. This is a norm how they operate. Every now and then they would change their bank account. So it wasn’t surprising, especially when you receive a booking from your local freight forwarder,” he said.The hackers appear to be well versed in similar transactions since they would inform that the account change was to work around new tax arrangements connected to the payment.According to the businessman, when he realized that he was not getting his goods as was arranged, he decided to call his suppliers and was shocked to learn that they had never changed their bank information.“They never authorized me to send money to no other bank, except at their bank, although I would have received an email from them.”“Unfortunately the transfer had already been made, millions of dollars, and of course he (supplier) never received the money. He’s only one, there are many like him that I had done similar transactions with,” the businessman lamented.He said that one of his suppliers in China had informed him that her email account was also breached by someone operating in South Africa, while another hacker working out of Ghana had hacked his Indian supplier’s account.“All these people (hackers) need is an email address from you. They have scouts in Guyana, who are going around and look at large scale importers, get your email address. Then if they can’t hack in, you may receive an email advising you that your system has been breached and ‘please change your password’, and while you doing that, they are already in your system and they live in your system from then on.”It means that every e-mail that the importer would have sent or mail that is coming to them would be rerouted through the hackers and they control the system, giving directions on where to send money and how shipment is being arranged.Most of the money was going to the hackers accounts in the United States of America.“I lost close to $20M, they have people who have lost more,” the businessman stated.He said that he hoped that other local businessmen will take heed and not be duped by what is definitely a well organised worldwide scam.