Police in Limassol are investigating a new case of online fraud in which a company was deceived into transferring €105,000 to a bank account controlled by fraudsters.
According to a police statement, the perpetrators allegedly targeted a Limassol-based company by sending a fraudulent email purporting to have been sent by an overseas supplier with which the company does business.
The case was reported to the Limassol Criminal Investigation Department on Monday by a representative of the company.
According to the complaint, the company had agreed in July to purchase products from an overseas partner company.
On 17 August, the Cyprus-based company received an email appearing to have been sent by its supplier, containing an invoice relating to the order. The fraudulent email instructed the company to pay €105,000 by bank transfer to an account whose details were included in the message.
Following the instructions in the email, the company transferred the €105,000 to the specified bank account on 25 August.
The fraud was discovered on 14 September, when the Cyprus company contacted its overseas supplier and established that the email had not been sent by the company and that the bank account to which the money had been transferred did not belong to the supplier.
Police investigate invoice fraud
The Financial Crime Investigation Office of the Limassol Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the case.
Police said the incident was an example of a form of fraud commonly known as invoice fraud, in which criminals impersonate a legitimate business or supplier and provide false payment details.
Authorities urged members of the public and businesses receiving payment requests by email to verify the instructions before transferring any money.
Police advised recipients to contact the relevant business directly using a telephone number that has previously been used for communication between the two parties, rather than relying on contact details contained in the suspicious message.
Business owners and company directors were also urged to inform staff about this type of fraud and introduce procedures for independently verifying payment requests.
Police said further information and advice on avoiding invoice fraud is available through its website.
Source: CNA
