Another Swift hack targets Ecuador bank

Hackers targeted Banco del Austro in January 2015 and got access to the bank’s codes for using Swift, then they transferred the funds to a different bank in another location.

The bank filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo in New York’s federal court for failing to identify alerts in a number of transactions in January 2015, and failing to stop the hackers from transferring nearly USD 12 million to banks around the world.

The lawsuit claims that of the USD 12 million stolen, the majority of which was transferred to various banks in Hong Kong, the bank was able to recover USD 2.8 million.

Lawyers for Banco del Austro and Wells Fargo have declined to comment.

Natasha de Teran, a spokeswoman for Swift, says the company has not been made aware of the earlier hack and theft. She added that customers must inform them of such frauds if they relate to Switft products and services.

Swift has been in touch with the bank concerned to get more information and has reminded customers of their obligations to share such information with the company.