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State-owned Norfund has lost NOK 100 million in a digital attack. – We must remember that this is twice the size of Nokia’s theft, says DNB.
Norfund has been scammed to give away NOK 100 million. Here from the press conference on fraud on Wednesday, from left legal director Thomas Fjeld Heltne, President Olaug Svarva, CEO Tellef Thorleifsson and Terje Fjeldvær of DNB.
Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix
Published:,
– The scam linked to a loan agreement Norfund has signed with a microfinance institution in Cambodia of $ 10 million, around NOK 100 million, Norfund director Tellef Thorleifsson tells NRK, who mentioned the case for the first time .
Norfund invests in developing countries to contribute to economic growth and job creation.
During a press conference in Norfund on Wednesday afternoon, legal director Thomas Fjeld Heltne said that all Norfund payments were immediately suspended when the fraud was discovered.
– This still applies, he says.
– Since the relationship was revealed, we have continuously worked to understand the big picture and have also invested considerable resources to get an overview of the course of events, says Heltne.
Norfund banker DNB was also present during the press conference. Section manager Terje Fjeldvær at the Financial Crime Center in DNB made the order of magnitude clear.
– We must remember that this is twice the size of Nokia’s theft, says Fjeldvær.
The money went to Mexico
in a Press release Earlier Wednesday, Norfund wrote that “they face serious fraud as a result of an advanced data breach,” which took place on March 16 of this year. The scam was first discovered on April 30.
– This is a very serious incident for which we apologize strongly. Now we are charting the full course of events to get to the bottom of the case and we are taking steps to prevent the same thing from happening again, ”says President Olaug Svarva in the press release.
CEO Tellef Thorleifsson at Norfund, represented here as a partner and founder of Northzone on a previous occasion.
North Zone
In the data breach, the scammers managed to transfer the loan, which was actually going to Cambodia, to another account. The money has gone to Mexico, says Norfund.
The method should have been to infiltrate the dialogue between Norfund and the institution in Cambodia, and then pretend to be both sides in the dialogue with each other.
Ultimately, the scammers led Norfund to believe that an account number in Mexico belonged to the institution in Cambodia. Therefore, the money was lost.
– Very unfortunate
The scam should have been discovered when the scammers attempted a new data breach.
– This is a very serious topic. Fraud clearly shows that we, as international investors and aid actors, are highly vulnerable through the active use of digital channels. The fact that this has happened shows that our systems and routines are not good enough. We have addressed this immediately, says Thorleifsson in the press release.
During Wednesday’s press conference, he elaborated on this.
– For me, as a leader, it is very unfortunate to announce that we have been exposed to this. It hurts, says Thorleifsson.
– The fact that this has happened shows that our routines have not been good enough. In collaboration with the police, we have chosen not to get away with this due to the investigation. The plan was to leave early tomorrow, but NRK had heard about it and we sped it up, he explains.
