Filenews 4 June 2021
A new case of online fraud is being investigated by the Police, following a complaint made yesterday by a company director in Limassol.
According to the complainant, about three months ago, his company ordered goods from a supplier of the company, located in a foreign country. A few days later, the goods arrived in Cyprus and were received by the complainant's company, while the repayment would be made at a later stage, as was the agreement between the two companies.
As the complainant mentioned, yesterday his company received an e-mail message from an address similar to that of the supplier company, requesting the immediate payment of the invoice, to a specific bank account.
The complainant proceeded to pay the invoice, but when he informed the supplier of the payment of the money, it was found that the company received no amount and that the complainant's company was the victim of fraud.
The investigation of the case was undertaken by the Financial Crime Investigation Office of the Limassol POLICE.
This type of electronic fraud, the so-called Invoice Fraud, is particularly widespread and mainly involves companies doing business with other companies located in foreign countries. The company's approach, in addition to e-mail, can be done with other forms of communication, such as by phone or letter, etc.
To protect yourself from this form of fraud, inform your staff of this form of fraud and apply a procedure to verify the legality of payment requests you receive.
Before making any invoice payments, talk to your supplier by phone without using the contact details listed in the suspicious message and confirm that this comes from the company's actual suppliers.
If you spot any suspected attempted fraud, report it directly to the police, even if you have not made the payment.
For more advice on this form of fraud, please visit the Police website at this link.
