Scammers have conned the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Caribbean’s T&T operations of millions of dollars, according to police. In June, the managing director of CIBC Caribbean reported being authorized to transfer $14,811,094.06 from the bank’s suspense processing account to other external accounts. The CEO was unaware of the transactions, and 19 transactions were made to accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bulgaria. Some accounts were eventually closed and money returned to the bank, but an estimated $9.4 million remained unaccounted for.
Police investigators said while the matter is still being probed, it was possible the fraudsters may have used an elaborate phishing scam to get personal information and details to carry out the scheme. One officer warned that such scamming techniques were becoming more prevalent against financial institutions.
Checkpoint Software Technologies security engineer and advisor Travais Sookoo said there has been a gradual increase in the number of cyberattacks in the Caribbean since 2020 and partly attributed this uptick to the development of AI tools. He said that while scams like ransomware and phishing usually took weeks and sometimes months to execute, the use of AI has increased cyberattackers’ efficiency.
Sookoo warned that the key element to phishing in particular was to trick the would-be victim into believing they were legitimate representatives of a specific institution. While AI has been used by criminals for scams, it can also be used by companies like his own to develop defenses and strengthen networks. Another valuable defense for companies would be to sharpen the skills of employees in recognising suspicious messages or potential tricks.
