Web scammers in Cyprus are evolving and speedily branching out to new ways of receiving large amounts out of unsuspecting professionals, by hacking into the personal data of associate firms and issuing invoices, persuading companies of their legitimacy.
The latest case of securing money under false pretences is being investigated in Nicosia. The perpetrators sent an email to a company assuming the role of an associate and managed to con them out of 13 thousand euro.
A company spokesman filed a complaint with the capital's CID, according to which on October 20th, a message was received, supposedly by an associate company, asking payment of an invoice presented on services rendered.
Without further action and since the invoice appeared to be from an associate, the company transferred 13,030 euro to a bank account in a European country, specified in the e-mail. Following later communication with the issuer, it was established that the associate company named in the mail, had never sent such an invoice.
The scammers had previously hacked into the email account of the complainant and secured names and addresses of associate firms, presumably issuing invoices at will, something which remains to be established. The Nicosia CID electronic crime unit is investigating.
Police issues pointers on invoices
Following the latest case, police encourage individuals or firms to verify the legitimacy of invoices through communication with the issuer or issuers before proceeding with any payment.
This communication should take place through a number that has been used again and is known to be real or written down in messages exchanged between the two sides in previous transactions.
Owners or CEOs of companies are further encouraged to brief personnel on such types of scams and implement verification procedures before settling any invoice.