Security News > 2024 > August > Orion SA says scammers conned company out of $60 million

Luxembourg-based chemicals and manufacturing giant Orion SA is telling US regulators that it will lose out on around $60 million after it was targeted by a criminal wire fraud scheme.

"On August 10, 2024, Orion SA determined that a Company employee, who is not a named executive officer, was the target of a criminal scheme that resulted in multiple fraudulently induced outbound wire transfers to accounts controlled by unknown third parties," the filing reads.

"As a result of this incident, and if no further recoveries of transferred funds occur, the company expects to record a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $60 million for the unrecovered fraudulent wire transfers."

The scammers tricked one union staffer into sending millions of dollars to their bank accounts after spoofing a supplier and mentioning previously discussed transactions from genuine emails between the target and real supplier.

Orion obviously won't be happy about potentially losing the $60 million for good, but it's far from a threatening loss for a company that recently upgraded its 2024 outlook in its half-year results.

Operating profit estimates also rose to a figure somewhere between $382.3 million $415 million, compared to between $305.8 million and $338.5 million in the prior period.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/13/orion_sa_says_scammers_conned/