Clark Hill Cyber team retrieves funds lost in wire transfer fraud

Chicago senior attorneys Peter Berk and Richard Halm helped a client get back nearly all of her $1.6 million that she mistakenly sent to threat actors who infiltrated an email thread during a wire transfer for a home purchase.

Just before closing, threat actors sent the client different instructions for sending her wire transfer. The client followed those instructions but realized her mistake in less than a day. The Cyber team was alerted the very next day, which allowed them to recover more than $1.4 million of the $1.6 million that was sent.

“We jumped in and made the proper reports to all of the necessary law enforcement entities and banks,” Berk said. “Because the client reached out to us so quickly, we were able to recover a significant portion of the funds. The moral of the story is that the sooner we’re contacted, the better chance we have of recovering funds.”

Berk, Halm, and the client immediately reported the incident to the FBI, Secret Service, and the banks involved in the wire transfer. Berk said contacting law enforcement is key because the Secret Service can freeze and trace transactions quickly.

“These scams have become a multi-billion-dollar industry,” Halm said. “These organizations have a finely tuned method of duping individuals out of their money, so we work with clients on instituting best practices security-wise for their email and other information systems.”