Sri Lanka has revealed another missing payment, days after hackers stole $2.5 million from the Ministry of Finance

Sri Lanka said on Tuesday that a payment worth about $625,000 (about 199.7 million Sri Lankan rupees) to the US Postal Service had been missing for several weeks, after US officials reported that the payment had not arrived, local media reported.

The authorities discovered the incident after hackers tried to transfer another amount intended for India.

Australian officials are said to be aware of irregularities in payments owed to the country, suggesting that Sri Lankan thefts could be broader than initially thought.

This revelation comes days after Sri Lankan officials announced that they were investigating the theft of $2.5 million by a hacker who targeted the country’s Ministry of Finance.

Treasury Secretary Harshana Suryaperuma told reporters at a news conference last week that hackers diverted payments from the country’s postal service “to other bank accounts, rather than the intended recipient.”

These incidents appear to be commercial email compromise attacks, where hackers break into email inboxes or other accounting systems to manipulate bank accounts and forward numbers during the bill payment process.

Business email scams are very popular with cybercriminals, and recent FBI data has shown that such attacks remain one of the top sources of profits for cybercriminals, as hackers can steal massive amounts of money via a single breach. The FBI says email hacking attacks led to billions of dollars in losses last year alone.

News of successive security lapses has placed new pressure on the Sri Lankan government after years of financial difficulties. The country is still recovering from an economic crisis that led to it defaulting on its debt in 2022 and resulted in months of protests that culminated in the ouster of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

It is currently unclear whether the two robberies are related. Member of Parliament Nalinda Jayatissa said the government was investigating whether the incidents were linked to each other.