According to police, the Central Fraud Unit is warning local businesses, particularly businesses that deal with foreign suppliers or foreign businesses, about an ongoing email scam. In this version of the scam, the fraudsters send an email, which appears to be from one of the company’s employees, to the company controller or accountant requesting a bill payment for several thousand dollars. The fraudster provides the bank routing information for the funds to be sent. Most often, the payment is to be made to a foreign bank account.
At a quick look, the employee email seems authentic but was sent from a similar, yet fraudulent, email account. Once transferred, the funds are immediately withdrawn from the foreign bank and unrecoverable.
In the past, fraudsters have contacted local businesses by email pretending to be a known supplier of the business advising that the supplier has changed its banking information. The suspects request all payments be forwarded to new bank accounts by electronic transfer. Often times the email appears to be from a known contact of the supplier with an email address that is very close to the original.
Businesses are advised that rather than acting on an email alone, verify the legitimacy of the email or change in banking. Businesses should not rely solely on an email.
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