Two municipalities in La Pampa were victims of hacks on their bank accounts on the same day, raising alarm in the provincial Justice due to the recurrence of such incidents where cybercriminals managed to steal millions of pesos. The affected municipalities were Santa Isabel and Colonia Barón.
In both cases, officials explained that on Friday, October 25, they received a pop-up window requesting the installation of a security add-on called "Trusteer Rapptor." After clicking the "ok" option, a hacker was able to access the system and make bank transfers without any authorization.
In the town of Santa Isabel, a possible transfer of $10 million was detected, which led the municipal accountant to block the accounts to prevent possible criminal maneuvers. On the other hand, in Colonia Barón, the criminals managed to steal more than $24 million in two operations.
Prosecutor María Nemesio took over the case in Santa Isabel, categorizing it as attempted fraud, while in Colonia Barón, the complaint was filed on Monday, October 19, and was assigned to the Economic Crimes Prosecutor's Office of the Second Judicial Circumscription.
According to reports from La Arena, the municipalities had been receiving similar notifications for the past three months, which has raised concerns and the need to strengthen the security of the accounts and IT systems of public institutions in the province.
