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A Limassol company has been left €105,000 out of pocket after fraudsters impersonated one of its overseas suppliers and redirected a payment into a bank account controlled by the scammers.
The case, reported to Limassol police on Monday, is the latest example of how convincing email scams can turn an ordinary business transaction into a costly trap.
The company had agreed in July to purchase products from a partner supplier based abroad. On August 17, it received what appeared to be a legitimate email from that company, complete with an invoice for the order.
There was just one problem: the email was fake.
The message instructed the Cyprus company to settle the €105,000 bill by bank transfer, providing account details for the payment. Believing the request had come from its genuine supplier, the company followed the instructions and transferred the money on August 25.
The fraud was not discovered until September 14, when the company contacted its overseas partner and learned that the supplier had never sent the email and that the bank account used for the transfer had nothing to do with the business.
Police are investigating the case through the Economic Crime Investigation Office of the Limassol CID.
A familiar trick with a costly twist
Police are urging businesses and individuals to treat unexpected payment instructions with particular caution, especially when a message asks for money to be sent to a new or unfamiliar bank account.
Their advice is simple: pick up the phone.
Anyone receiving a payment request should independently contact the person or company expecting the money, using a telephone number already used in previous dealings. Contact details supplied in the suspicious email should not be relied upon for verification.
Business owners and managers are also being urged to make sure employees know about invoice fraud and that their companies have clear procedures for checking payment requests before money is transferred.
The latest case is an example of a scam that relies less on elaborate technology than on catching people at exactly the right moment. A genuine order, a familiar company name and a convincing invoice can be enough to make a fraudulent payment request look entirely routine.
Police have published further information and advice on invoice fraud and other forms of online deception at the following website: Cyprus Police News: Invoice and other document fraud
