A sophisticated fraud scam has been reported by IBM that is run by a prominent and well- funded Eastern European gang of cyber criminals, which uses a combination of malware, phishing and phone calls.

According to IBM, the cyber criminals have netted over USD1 million from large and medium-sized American companies.

The scheme has been dubbed “The Dyre Wolf “by the security researchers at IBM.

The technology company said that the scheme is small compared to more recent widespread fraud schemes on web, but represents a new level of complexity.

According to IBM, the cyber hackers have been since last year targeting those people who are working in companies by sending spam emails along with suspicious attachments in order to get a variant of the malware, called Dyre, into more and more computers.

Following installation, the malware waits until it is confirmed that the user is scrolling through a bank’s website. As soon as it is recognized, the malware quickly creates a fake screen which tells the user that the bank’s website is having technical issues, suggesting the user to call a certain number.

If calling that number is opted, the user is directed to an English-speaking operator who already has the information about which bank the users think they are contacting. The operator very conveniently compels the user to reveal his/her banking details. Once the details are out, the operator instantly begins a large wire transfer in order to take money out of the relevant account.

IBM Security vice president Caleb Barlow said a live phone operator use makes the scheme unique.

“What’s very different in this case, is we saw a pivot of the attackers to use a set of social engineering techniques that I think are unprecedented. The focus on wire transfers of large sums of money really got our attention,” said Barlow.

IBM, however, didn’t reveal the names of the companies that were the victim of the scheme or the perpetrators’ location.