Victoria, BC police are warning Victoria and Esquimalt businesses to be wary of an increase of “business email compromise” scams.
The scam begins when an employee in accounting or a similar financial department is targeted by somebody posing as the CEO or another high-ranking employee. The scammer send a realistic email requesting an urgent wire transfer to settle an account or pay an invoice or secure a business deal.
Scammers will often send realistic looking invoices or bills and stress the urgency or confidentiality of the wire transfer.
An investigation uncovered the scam saw a local business lose $50,000.
“There are a number of ways companies can prevent this from happening to them,” said Financial Crime Sgt. Brent Keleher.
“Carefully examine the properties of the e-mail address making the request as often one letter is off or a period is inserted. Also, establish a process that requires multiple approvals for wire transfers and limit the amount of employee information online. Often the scammers get information on their victims from social media or company websites.”
Read more at VicPD
