Thursday, September 9, 1993

Brussels Branch Of BNP Hit By Computer Fraud Brussels, Belgium, September 8, 1993 (NB) -- The Belgian office of Banque Nationale du Paris (BNP) has admitted it was the victim of a major computer fraud in June of this year, according to Belgian press sources. The AFP news agency reports that a total of BFr 245 million was taken in the computer fraud, although bank officials have now recovered the money and Police are holding two suspects. The two fraudsters used their direct computer access facilities to request debits from BNP accounts and switch the proceeds into their own bank accounts with other banks. According to BNP sources, auditors picked up the fraud when they carried out a routine series of checks on inter-bank transactions in June. As soon as the fraud was discovered, the third party banks were contacted and the money recovered. As a result of the fraud, BNP is carrying out an internal inquiry into how the frauds occurred and whether its security systems can be beefed up to prevent a recurrence. [ via risks-digest Volume 15, Issue 04] 18:41 # G!