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Evaldas Rimasauskas, a Lithuanian man, managed to steal $122 million from tech giants Google and Facebook using a simple yet highly effective scam. Between 2013 and 2015, he sent the companies fraudulent invoices that appeared to be from a legitimate Taiwanese company, Quanta Computer, with which both tech firms had previously done business. These fake bills led to payments of $23 million to Google and $99 million to Facebook. The scam was so convincing that both companies did not question the authenticity of the invoices and wired the funds to bank accounts controlled by Rimasauskas in Latvia and Cyprus
Rimasauskas created a network of fake emails, documents, and contracts that were nearly identical to the real ones used by Quanta Computer. Using this strategy, he was able to trick the financial departments at Google and Facebook into making the massive payments. Neither company questioned the legitimacy of the bills, despite the sums involved. The scam was part of a larger wave of Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, which, according to the FBI, cost businesses around the world billions of dollars annually
After being apprehended by Lithuanian authorities in 2017, Rimasauskas was extradited to the U.S. and pleaded guilty to wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering. In 2019, he was sentenced to five years in prison, along with two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit $49.7 million and pay nearly $26.5 million in restitution. Despite the large-scale fraud, both Facebook and Google were able to recover most of the stolen funds, with Facebook even quickly acting to reclaim the majority of its losses
This case serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities even the biggest companies can face when it comes to cybercrime. The simplicity and effectiveness of the scam underscore the need for businesses to bolster their cybersecurity measures to prevent similar attacks in the future.
