IT Radix Red Alert: Beware of a new con using a convincing email re: wire transfer
We’ve had a few clients targeted by a new email scam recently and felt it important to bring to your attention…
It is an email scam or con involving wire transfers. The con artist obtains very specific information from their target’s web and social media sites. They then use the information to craft an email targeting either an employee or client of the target. (Note: This email is NOT mass emailed and therefore, is unlikely to trip off any email filtering that you may have in place.) The email is crafted to appear to be sent by a principal of the company and requests a wire transfer. It contains all the instructions to make the transfer.
In the case of one of our clients, the scammer even registered a fake domain as part of the scam. So, email came from <principal name>@<domain name.co> (notice, no “m” on the end of .co) and the email is very convincing. Do not be fooled. Always double check any requests for wire transfer via email–e.g. pick up the phone and verify the request.
You may think your business is too small to be targeted, but the FBI estimates that con artists made off with “over $750 million in such scams from more than 7,000 victim companies in the U.S. in the last two years.” You can read more about it here.
Have questions? As always, feel free to give us a call at IT Radix, so that together we can “take a bite out of crime.”
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