Employee tricked into transferring money to impostor
Australian law firm MinterEllison has confirmed that there was an attempt to scam the organisation that almost led to the theft of a "large sum of money" by a fraudster, according to reports.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on Thursday that an employee of the law firm was duped into transferring the amount to a fraudster posing as a business associate.
The funds were eventually recovered after the scam attempt was discovered, according to the report, which disclosed that the money was worth below $500,000.
No compromised systems
MinterEllison told the SMH that none of its systems were compromised during the scam attempt.
The fraudster had infiltrated the systems of another group it was working with on a deal, according to the law firm. They then impersonated a staff member who was interacting with a MinterEllison employee.
Sources told the SMH that the law firm immediately went to the Supreme Court of Victoria in early April after the scam attempt was detected.
"The incident underlines the importance of hypervigilance in all financial transactions," a spokesperson told SMH.
According to the law firm, they are "continually" reviewing their policies and procedures to ensure they are "robust and fit for purpose."
Cybersecurity risks in Australia
Employers across the world are warned against being overconfident in handling emerging cybersecurity threats, as only three per cent of organisations are "mature" enough to be resilient against cybersecurity risks.
In fact, research last year from InfoTrack revealed that more than one in 10 legal firms have fallen victim to cybercrime on property-related transactions in 2023.
"We know of cases here in Australia where scammers have impersonated solicitors in conveyancing transactions asking buyers to transfer additional funds related to stamp duty to a bank account, belonging to the criminal group," said Sebastian Mill, InfoTrack's chief technology officer global, in a previous statement.
"Property transactions involve large sums of money, making conveyancing legal firms and real estate agencies attractive to cybercriminals."
To address the growing threat of cyber criminals, the government unveiled last year its 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy aimed at accelerating the country's cyber industry and professionalising its workforce.
