TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) — Canada’s Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the Canadian music industry, announced that it has been the victim of cybercrime.
Following a report by the Globe & Mail, FOUNDATION confirmed that it was the target of “significant financial crime” which saw thieves steal $9.77 million in federal money from a Scotiabank account in a one-time wire fraud.
According to FACTOR, the alleged crime took place on June 13th and was immediately reported to Canadian law enforcement officials. The organization said it also quickly retained independent third-party investigators to conduct an inquiry into the incident.
The allegedly purloined funds were wired to a Scotiabank account of a numbered company in Quebec and then immediately wired to a digital exchange where it was used to purchase cryptocurrency, FOUNDATION said.
According to FACTOR, multiple investigations have revealed that no breach of their systems occurred and the theft was perpetrated by someone who allegedly convinced FACTOR’s banking partner, Scotiabank, to add a new user to their account.
The new user was issued a digital token to access FACTOR’s accounts in January and the organization claims no alert was provided to notify them of the deletion of FACTOR’s personnel from the account.
FACTOR went on to note that they were unable to provide additional comment as the matter is currently being resolved in court.
Read FACTOR’s full statement here: https://www.factor.ca/factors-response-to-the-scotiabank-cybertheft-the-facts/
A representative for Scotiabank declined to comment.
