Great story by Erika Kinetz at the Associated Press. How Mattel was the victim of CEO Fraud using phishing and social engineering to trick one of their executives in China to make a $3 Million wire transfer.
She started the story with: "The email seemed unremarkable: a routine request by Mattel Inc.'s chief executive for a new vendor payment to China.
"It was well-timed, arriving on Thursday, April 30, during a tumultuous period for the Los-Angeles based maker of Barbie dolls. Barbie was bombing, particularly overseas, and the CEO, Christopher Sinclair, had officially taken over only that month. Mattel had fired his predecessor.
"The finance executive who got the note was naturally eager to please her new boss. She double-checked protocol. Fund transfers required approval from two high-ranking managers. She qualified and so did the CEO, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter. He declined to reveal the finance executive's name.
