Re: Considering it's $1m...
I expect they did, but that "we'll confirm that by email" figured regularly in 'phone conversations. Language barriers may have played a role, too.
Note - the report is silent on whether there was a MITM on the phone. If they were filtering email it would've presented opportunities to tamper with phone numbers and other contact details.
To think that PGP has only been with us since 1991!
