against `` two US-based internet companies '' that were not named at the time . They had allegedly been trickedAttack.Phishinginto wiring more than $ 100m to the alleged scammer 's bank accounts . On 27 April , Fortune reported that the two victims were Facebook and Google . The man accused of being behind the scam , Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , allegedly posed asAttack.Phishingan Asia-based manufacturer and deceivedAttack.Phishingthe companies from at least 2013 until 2015 . `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sentAttack.Phishingto employees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company , '' the US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said in March . These emails purported to be fromAttack.Phishingemployees of the Asia-based firm , the DOJ alleged , and were sent fromAttack.Phishingemail accounts designed to look likeAttack.Phishingthey had come fromAttack.Phishingthe company , but in fact had not . The DOJ also accused Mr Rimasauskas of forgingAttack.Phishinginvoices , contracts and letters `` that falsely appearedAttack.Phishingto have been executed and signed by executives and agents of the victim companies '' . `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities , '' a spokeswoman for Google said in a statement . `` We recouped the funds and we 're pleased this matter is resolved . '' However , the firm did not reveal how much money it had transferred and recouped . Nor did Facebook - but a spokeswoman said : `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation . ''
Evaldas Rimasauskas , 49 who allegedly connedAttack.Phishingtwo of the world 's biggest companies was arrested on fraud charges GOOGLE and Facebook have admitted they were conned outAttack.Phishingof an alleged $ 100million ( £77million ) in a phishing scamAttack.Phishing. The two world 's biggest companies fell victim after a Lithuanian man allegedly trickedAttack.Phishingemployees into wiring over the money to bank accounts that he controlled , Fortune reported on Thursday . Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , is accused of posing asAttack.Phishingan Asia-based manufacturer and deceivedAttack.Phishingthe internet giants from around 2013 until 2015 . He was arrested earlier this month in Lithuania at the request of US authorities The conman is said to have forgedAttack.Phishingemail addresses , invoices and corporate stamps to impersonateAttack.PhishingQuanta and trickAttack.Phishingthem into paying for computer supplies . Rimasauskas , who is awaiting extradition proceedings , has denied the allegations . The US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said last month : `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sentAttack.Phishingto employees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multi-million-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company . '' Both Facebook and Google have confirmed the fraud and said that they had been able to recoup funds . But they did n't reveal how much money it had transferred and recouped . A Google spokeswoman said : `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities . '' `` We recouped the funds and we ’ re pleased this matter is resolved . '' A spokeswoman for Facebook added : `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation . '' Security experts said the recent cyber attack highlighted how sophisticated phishing scamsAttack.Phishingare being used to foolAttack.Phishingeven two of the biggest tech companies .
Following the news that a Lithuanian man had been charged over an email phishing scam attackAttack.Phishingagainst `` two US-based internet companies '' whose identities were not disclosed , it has been recently confirmed that the two companies involved were actually tech giants Google and Facebook . In a report published April 27 , Fortune disclosed the identities of both companies . The companies had been trickedAttack.Phishinginto wiring over US $ 100 million to the alleged scammer ’ s bank accounts . Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , purportedly posed asAttack.Phishingan Asia-based manufacturer and deceivedAttack.Phishingthe two companies from at least 2013 to 2015 . `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sent toAttack.Phishingemployees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company , '' the US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said . The DOJ alleged that emails supposedly from the employees of said Asian manufacturer were sent fromAttack.Phishingemail accounts designed to look likeAttack.Phishingthey were actually from the firm . Rimasauskas was charged by the DOJ in March of sendingAttack.Phishingthe forged emails , as well as for fabricating invoices , contracts and letters `` that falsely appearedAttack.Phishingto have been executed and signed by executives and agents of the victim companies . '' `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities , '' a spokesperson for Google said in a statement . `` We recouped the funds and we 're pleased this matter is resolved . '' `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation , '' a representative from Facebook said . The BBC reported that neither Google nor Facebook revealed how much money they had transferred , or how much they recouped following the incident . While the two companies have advanced cybersecurity measures in place , the phishing attacksAttack.Phishingtargeted individuals through their emails — attacks that could have been avoided through proper verification of dubious payment requests . `` Sometimes staff [ at large firms ] think that they are defended , that security is n't part of their job , '' James Maude of cyber-security firm Avecto told the BBC . `` But people are part of the best security you can have — that 's why you have to train them . ''