Online fraud of €105,000 via fake email hits company in Limassol
Unknowns obtained €105,000 from a company in Limassol through a fraudulent email that impersonated a supplier partner. Police are investigating the case.
Fraud of €105,000 with fake invoice in Limassol — Police investigate
A company in Limassol lost €105,000 following electronic fraud involving a falsified email, according to a police announcement reported by Politis. The case was reported on 14 September at Limassol Police Station by a representative of the affected company.
According to the complaint, in July the company in Cyprus had agreed to purchase products from a supplier partner based abroad. On 17 August, however, an email was received that purported to be sent from the partner company, which contained an invoice for payment of the €105,000 via bank transfer to an account indicated by the perpetrators.
The complainant company followed the instructions in the message and on 25 August carried out the transfer to the indicated account. The fraud was discovered on 14 September, when the Cypriot company contacted the partner directly — which confirmed that it had neither sent the email in question nor did it own the bank account used for the transfer.
The Economic Crime Investigation Office of Limassol Police Station took over the case.
In light of the incident, Police issue a recommendation to businesses and citizens: whenever a payment request is received via email, verification should be made through telephone contact with the sender, using a number that has already been confirmed in previous correspondence or transactions — and not the number that may appear in the new message. Additionally, company owners and managers are urged to inform their staff about this particular form of fraud and to implement verification procedures for every payment request.
Source: Politis