Wayland Attacked in Act of Cybercrime

Wayland police began investigating a computer crime and attempted fraud on Friday, Jan. 30, and found that someone had gotten access to one of the town’s bank accounts.

Malware on the town computer was used to gain “pertinent bank account information and codes,” according to Wayland police. A bogus phone call, where someone claimed to be from another bank, gave the perpetrator even more information.

Police say that several illegal attempts were made to wire funds from the Wayland bank account with Unibank to several overseas and domestic banks. All the attempts were stopped by Unibank and the town did not suffer any financial loss.

The fraudulent wire transfers that were attempted totaled more than four million dollars.

Wayland police have called upon the F.B.I. for help in the investigation, and a supervisory special agent in charge of securities and corporate fraud is taking on the case. For the past month, the town’s IT staff and Treasurer’s Office have assisted in the investigation, and the town also upgraded its computer security.

The case remains under investigation.