The Bangladesh Central Bank has recovered over $15.25 million of the $81 million stolen from accounts in February by hackers who used the bank's SWIFT login details to funnel money out through the messaging network.
It hopes to retrieve another $30 million currently frozen in accounts, according to officials speaking to Reuters today, with over half of the missing money still unaccounted for.
Hackers were able to use stolen Bangladesh Bank details to send dozens of currency transfer requests using SWIFT messages. The cybercriminals attempted to steal $950 million, but most of the fraud was blocked.
However hackers successfully managed to transfer $81 million to four casino accounts in the Philippines that has remained missing until now.
"We are hoping to get back around $30 million which remains frozen," said Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan, deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank, speaking to Reuters.
"We are expecting to get a favourable verdict from Philippines' Supreme Court as it has already been proved that $81 million is our money," said another Bangladesh Bank official.
More than $15.25 million was handed over to the Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines on Friday, after a court judged that the bank was the rightful owner.
The bank received substantial criticism for its lack of adequate security measures, including a simple firewall. Hackers were able to use second hand network switches to install malware on the bank's systems, and gain access to the bank's funds once they knew the SWIFT login details.
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