New Scams Targeting Australian Businesses:
With America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation alerting nationals of the dangers associated with a new scam, and the fact that one of our own recently stumbled across it, himself, we thought to share with you what could end up costing your business a great deal of money.
The scam has already cost our American friends in the region of $2.3 Billion (US) since it came onto the scene around three years ago – reports suggest that this figure could be higher considering the exact start date isn’t known and that it’s likely that a handful of cases were ignored, unreported or simply undetected. Furthermore, from the FBI’s initial study, the scam has allegedly affected more than 79 countries across the world already, the details of which have yet to be released.
With that in mind, it would come as no surprise that Australia has or at least will see a greater number of cases mounting up in the coming months, and it’s for that reason alone that we’re looking to share what that scam’s all about and how it works. That way perhaps we can help you and your business from becoming another statistic.
How the scam works:
An email, purportedly from your company’s CEO, if not another of your company’s more senior members of staff, is sent to your accountants or finance division. The email displays the correct signature and addresses the relevant person by name, making it seem like any other email that they might expect to receive from the CEO, given the circumstances. From there, the email goes on to ask that a payment be made at the nearest opportunity to a new client; a refund be issued to a particular customer or; a purchase order completed for a new product or service from a new provider. These are just examples, but in each case, the accountant will be asked to make a special payment of some kind to a bank account listed in the email.
Given the fact that most accountants receive emails of the sort on a regular basis, many simply assume the email to be legitimate and go on to make the payment without question. The sums in the emails range from anywhere between a few hundred dollars, to several thousand, so it’s easy to see how these scammers have managed to make off with so much money already.
In case you have already fallen victim to this scam, try not to blame yourself too much; even the likes of Instagram, the photo-sharing site and Seagate, the data-storage company, among many others, have admitted to being fooled by the scam.
Originally, the fraudsters were targeting start-ups with big budgets, but they’ve now upped the anti, setting their sights on medium-sized and even some larger corporations around the globe.
Don’t let yourself fall into the same trap, so please share this with as many of your colleagues as possible… especially if they’re involved in accounting!
Precise Investigation has helped hundreds of clients to overcome issues with fraud and we can do the same for you. Whether you’re a small, medium or large company, a Government department or a stay-at-home dad, our investigator’s boast the tools, expertise and experience necessary to ensure that you don’t get swindled out of your hard-earned cash. In some cases, we can even help you to recover funds if it’s already too late.
Call Precise Investigation today on 1300 856 011 for a discrete, professional private investigation service.
Precise Investigation has operatives stationed across all of Australia, with quick and easy access to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and even the more remote areas of the country. So, if you’re ever in need of some professional assistance in the realms of fraud prevention, forensic or activities investigations, background checks or due diligence, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Our operatives and dedicated support team are here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
