Who would have thought that a big company like SuperValu would be susceptible to an e-mail scam and almost lose $10 million?! Well, it happened just a few months ago. In February they received e-mails supposedly from American Greetings Corp. and Frito-Lay indicating new bank accounts had been set up and payments should be wired to these new accounts.
Has anyone at SuperValu ever read about "phishing‘ or other email scams? I guess not…
Without making any inquiries with the two companies about the change in accounts, SuperValu just started sending payments to the accounts indicated in the e-mail. After a week, nine payments and $6.5 million later, it was discovered that the new account with American Greetings was fraudulent. Meanwhile, another $3.6 million was being sent to the fraudulent Frito-Lay account. Luckily, for SuperValu, the FBI was able to get right on it and recover the money before it disappeared.
“SuperValu was the target of attempted financial fraud,” company spokeswoman Haley Meyer wrote in a prepared statement. “We were able to quickly discover and report this to the FBI. As a result of the quick work of the Boise FBI Office and the U.S. Attorney, any funds lost are minimal.”
Fortunate as it may seem, it’s not quite time to break out the bubbly. American Greetings and Frito-Lay are demanding that they get paid – and rightly so. But the matter has been turned over to a judge to decide how the money is going to be allocated. It’s a shame that such fairy-tale endings don’t happen for most individuals who fall victim to e-mail scams. Here’s the link the the whole tale from the Idaho Statesman.
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angie
November 12, 2007 @ 7:15 am
Frito-Lay has been begging for it. In this area, the sales manager ran an employment blacklist and harassment campaign against an individual who had never worked for F-L but who had been a victim of child abuse by one of his family. Now grown, the survivor tackled a candidate for sheriff from that family who was soft on abuse, harassment, and retaliatory behaviors and helped defeat the candidate. F-L is reputedly now running the harassment all over the Southeast.
I have had my identity stolen but I have no sympathy whatever for F-L. Sounds like a Haydukian “get even” by another abuse survivor…
Rich B
November 21, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
I spent thirty years as an Identity Thief and con-artist. Recently released from Federal Prison and have to turn over my leaf for sure.
Nothing surprises me, but maybe this was personal.