Don't have an account yet? Get the most out of your experience with a personalized all-access pass to everything local on events, music, restaurants, news and more. Dear Mexican: Why do you suppose Mexico has such a hard time getting its act together? It has vast natural resources, good climate, natural ports, super-generous and good-looking neighbors and plenty of laborers who seem to be willing to do all sorts of crappy jobs.
Hackers sent hundreds of false orders to move amounts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pesos from banks including Banorte, to fake accounts in other banks, the sources said, and accomplices then emptied the accounts in cash withdrawals in dozens of branch offices. Daily newspaper El Financiero said about million pesos had been stolen in the hack, citing an anonymous source. Lorenza Martinez, head of Banxico's payment system, told Reuters on Friday that five institutions saw "unauthorized transfers," but she stopped short of calling it a cyberattack. Inter-bank transfers slowed in later April, feeding worries that Latin America's second biggest economy could be the latest victim in a global wave of cyberattacks. Hackers may have had help inside bank branches, since such big cash withdrawals are uncommon, one source said. Martinez said that the central bank's SPEI interbank transfer system was not compromised but that the problem had to do with software developed by institutions or third-party providers to connect to the payment system. The central bank and banks have said that no clients had been affected so far.