P2021-ND-084

During the week of December 2 – 6, 2019, an employee of the Organization received an email that appeared to be from the Organization’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer requesting accounts receivable information, along with customer contact information. The employee responded by email on December 6, 2019 attaching the requested information. Unfortunately, the email had been sent by an unknown and unauthorized third party. The incident was discovered on December 9 when customers contacted the Organization requesting a French version of an email the Organization did not send. The Organization investigated, and found that an unauthorized third party had been sending requests to customers with outstanding account balances that appeared to come from the Organization, and requesting that customer make payment to an “alternative” bank account. Some customers were also contacted by telephone at their place of business.