Nearly USD 2.5 million loss to ICC after falling prey to online scam

New Delhi: A report claims that the ICC suffered losses of around USD 2.5 million as a result of cybercrime.

The phishing incident, which originated in the USA, happened last year, according to ESPNCricinfo.

"The route used by fraudsters to commit the financial scam was Business E-mail Compromise (BEC), also known as e-mail account compromise, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes as 'one of the most financially damaging online crimes'," the report stated.

An investigation is underway as the ICC, which is not commenting on the matter, reported the incident to law enforcement agency in the US. How the scam took place is not yet known.

"It is not yet known what route exactly the fraudsters took to get the money transferred from the ICC account - whether they had got in touch directly with someone at the head office in Dubai, or had targeted an ICC vendor or consultant.

"It is also not confirmed whether the transaction was done in one single payment or there were multiple wire transfers".

Phishing is an attempt by cybercriminals posing as legitimate institutions, usually via email, to obtain sensitive information from targeted individuals. It is one of the most common scams happening around the world.

A BEC scam is a form of phishing where companies and individuals are tricked and convinced into making wire transfers.

With PTI inputs

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