A new internet fraud was reported by a director of a company in Limassol, who proceeded to transfer more than 40 thousand euros, for products he received from abroad, to a bank account that eventually turned out not to belong to the company he cooperates with. The Police recommend caution.
According to the complainant, about three months ago, his company ordered goods from a supplier company, located in a foreign country. A few days later, the goods arrived in Cyprus and were received by the complainant's company, while it was agreed that the repayment be made at a later stage.
Yesterday, the businessman's company received an e-mail from an address similar to that of the supplier company, where the immediate payment of the invoice was requested, in a specific bank account.
The complainant proceeded to pay the invoice, paying a sum of 42,386 euros, however, when he informed the supplier company, it was found that it did not receive any amount and that his company was the victim of fraud.
The investigation of the case was undertaken by the Financial Crime Investigation Office of the Limassol TAE, while according to the Police, this type of electronic fraud, the so-called “Invoice Fraud”, is very common and mainly concerns companies that deal with other companies located in foreign countries.
The approach of the company, apart from the e-mail, can be done with other forms of communication, such as by phone or by letter, etc., says the Police and calls the addresses of companies to inform their staff about this form of fraud and to apply a procedure. to verify the legality of the payment requests you receive.
The Police recommends that, before any payment of invoices is made, there be a telephone communication with the supplier, but without the use of contact details listed in the suspicious message and as confirmation that this comes from the real suppliers of the company.
In case of a suspected attempted fraud, the Police call those involved as they immediately report it.
For more tips on this form of fraud, the public can visit the Police website at the following link:
https://www.cypruspolicenews.com/ArticleSideGallery/ArticleID=13030
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