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Beware of fraudsters impersonating CEOs of companies

Please beware of attempts to obtain corporate clients’ funds with the use of e-mails sent on behalf of CEOs of companies.

The fraudsters try to convince mBank CompanyNet users that they must make an urgent payment to a foreign account. The request for a transfer is sent in a confidential e-mail from a purported CEO to a person responsible for executing payments.

Usually, the scenario for such fraud has two stages. In the first stage, the victim is asked to provide the balance in the account:
 

Wiadomość mailowa wysyłana w imieniu prezesów firm

Then, the victim is requested to make a transfer to a bank account held with a foreign bank indicated by the perpetrator (usually, the account is registered in Great Britain or Spain):

Prośba o wykonanie przelewu na wskazany przez oszusta numer rachunku

The fraudsters use mailboxes created specifically for this purpose, however, in the “FROM” field, there is the CEO’s name and surname. We recommend that you check the sender’s e-mail address carefully. Fraudulent e-mails are sent from unusual domains, for instance @aol.pl. Cybercriminals frequently use an e-mail address similar to the actual e-mail address of a given company.

We recommend that each transaction of this kind be confirmed by telephone with the e-mail sender.

If the transfer to the fraudster’s account has already been made, the victim should immediately contact the bank and inform law enforcement agencies. Please note that in such a situation, prompt reaction is of particular importance as time is the key factor when it comes to recovering the funds subject to fraud.

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SME and Corporates