Nearly $450K stolen from Manitoba municipality in cyber attack

WINNIPEG — Nearly $450,000 was stolen from a Manitoba municipality’s operating bank account in a cybersecurity attack.

According to a news release from the Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone, during late December 2019 and through the Christmas holiday seasons, someone made electronic withdrawals of about $9,950 from the municipality’s account at Stride Credit Union, and in total took about $447,000.

The municipality noted it does not use online banking for the transfer or withdrawal of funds.

Once the missing money was discovered, the CAO contacted Stride Credit Union, the RCMP, and council to report the theft.

Kelty iManagement monitors the municipality’s secure server and network and it has not been able to detect any suspicious activity on the administrative office server and network.

The municipality noted it has been trying to work with Stride Credit Union, and it made an insurance claim to cover the loss, but it was denied.

The municipality also hired a national security expert to look at the computer logs of the municipality and Stride Credit Union. So far, the expert found that the money was sent to Toronto and then out of Canada.

In a statement, Stride Credit Union said when it became aware of the incident, it began working closely with the municipality, its IT specialists, as well as the RCMP to help figure out how the funds were withdrawn from the account and to help recover the money.

“We have continued to offer our cooperation and support to the Municipality since that time, including by making a number of requests to the Municipality and its lawyers to confirm and verify additional information that could be helpful in assisting with the investigation,” the statement said.

Stride added that it takes the privacy, security, and protection of its members’ personal and financial information seriously, and it is constantly monitoring its online banking system to prevent cyber fraud.

CTV News Winnipeg has reached out to the RCMP for more information.