Facebook and Google lose £77m in scam
FACEBOOK and Google paid £77million to an alleged con artist after being caught in an internet ‘phishing’ scam, it has been reported.
It shows that not even the world’s largest technology companies are immune from scammers’ increasingly sophisticated attacks.
Phishing involves fraudsters sending out emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce companies or individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Fortune magazine reported that the two internet giants were tricked by a Lithuanian man into sending him more than $100 million (£77m).
The man accused of being behind the scam – Evaldas Rimasauskas, 48 – allegedly posed as an Asia-based manufacturer and deceived the companies from at least 2013 until 2015.
‘We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities,’ a Google spokesman said yesterday.
‘We recouped the funds and we’re pleased this matter is resolved.’
However, the firm did not reveal how much money it had transferred or recouped.
Facebook also refused to reveal the figures involved, but a spokesman said: ‘Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been co-operating with law enforcement in its investigation.’
Rimasauskas, who is facing extradition proceedings in Lithuania, denies the allegations.
It was also revealed yesterday that an advertiser boycott of YouTube after hate videos were found on its site failed to stop owners Google raking in huge profits.
The internet giant’s parent company Alphabet boasted a ‘terrific start’ to 2017 – despite more than 250 companies pulling adverts from its video sharing site. Sales leapt 22 per cent to £19.1 billion in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period the year before, while advertising sales climbed 19 per cent to £16.6 bn.
YouTube faced a torrent of criticism earlier this year after brands found their adverts were being shown alongside jihadist, white supremacist and rape apologist videos. BT, Waitrose, Cancer Research UK, the Co-op Group and Mercedes Benz were just a few of the firms that joined the boycott.
Alphabet’s profits also climbed, reaching £4.1 billion, compared to £3.2 bn a year ago.