New York, NY (BBN) – A spelling mistake during an online bank heist last month helped put a stop to the theft, according to bank officials.
The hackers broke into the website for the central bank of Bangladesh, and stole codes that allowed them to request financial transfers from the BB account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
More than $80 million was stolen in four transfers, but the fifth transfer to Sri Lanka’s Shalika Foundation was held up because the world foundation was spelled “fandation,” and that caught the attention of Deutsche Bank, which was involved in the transfer, Here & Now‘s reports.
The central bank of Bangladesh, officially known as Bangladesh Bank, has able to recover US$20 million out of $101 million taken away by cyber hackers from its foreign exchange reserve with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently.
Suspected Chinese-origin cybercriminals hacked in the forex reserves in the BB’s account with the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York on February 05.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is now working with its counterpart –the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of the Philippines – actively to recover the rest of stolen fund, a central banker told the BBN.

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