NTMA Falls Victim to €5m Phishing Scam: Urgent Investigation Underway

An investigation has been launched after a multi-million euro scam was perpetrated against the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). The scam, which is understood to have involved as much as €5m, was uncovered earlier this week after staff expressed concern about a payment made to a company connected to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The fund is managed and controlled by the NTMA and is described as 'a sovereign development fund with a unique mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity and employment in Ireland'.

Given the nature of the fund, large amounts of money are often transferred through it. It emerged this week that one payment which caused staff concern was bogus, with the request originating from an as yet unidentified and likely criminal source. It is understood the nature and timing of the request for the fund transfer was designed to increase the chances the scam would be successful.

The NTMA has been quoted as saying there was no evidence that there had been a breach of its systems, with the criminals exploiting human vulnerabilities and deploying a type of invoice fraud on the agency. 'Following receipt of a complaint of alleged fraud, An Garda Síochána has commenced an investigation into this matter. No further comment is available at this time,' a Garda spokesman told The Irish Times.

The NTMA is understood to be carrying out an urgent review to establish what happened and to ascertain if and how the money lost can be recovered. While it is not clear if this is what happened on this occasion, invoice fraud typically sees criminals making contact with businesses pretending to be a legitimate enterprise. They then work to earn the trust of individuals within that company with a view to diverting payments to accounts they have control over. The money then disappears through the international banking network.