5,000 victims fooled by fraudsters during 2015
24/04/2016
It has been reported that more than 5,000 people were conned by fraudsters last year into sending planned payments to false bank accounts.
Those who became a victim to the scam were tricked by emails, which required them to transfer money into the accounts of criminals, leaving the actual and genuine recipient unpaid.
Police figures show that 5,480 similar cases were recording during 2015 compared to 3,206 the previous year. The scam, also know as ‘mandate’ or ‘invoice’ fraud is up 71% on 2014 figures. Total loses throughout the UK were £126 million.
Police advice
Police have advised that people need to be cautious of any persistent emails that suggest money to be paid into a bank account where the payment details have changed.
The scam can occur one of two ways:
Spying on emails:
The IT systems within a company can be infected with a malware, which allows criminals to spy on emails they are sending. The criminals then use this information to contact customers.
Impersonating someone else:
This is where the fraudster pretends to be someone senior within a company and emails a junior member of staff requesting a business payment to be made. This is known as CEO fraud.
In response to the figures Commander Chris Greany from City of London Police said:
“Sadly email is just not safe and you cannot trust it all the time. People need to be suspicious of emails that ask for payments, especially if they are persistent and present new bank account details.
“The best thing for any individual to do is to pick up the phone and speak to the business they are dealing with.”
Need Financial Advice?
If you have any personal finance questions related to this news article, then please contact our financial advisers. You can get in touch by asking a question online, calling us on 0800 092 1245, or by arranging a visit.
Share this..
Related stories
Simple ways to save money : Pay-as-you-go mobiles
The introduction of pay-as-you-go mobiles was a significant turning point in the development of the UK mobile phone market which ultimately led to a massive increase in contract mobile phones. However, of late we have seen the sector turnabout with more and more people now looking at pay-as-you-go mobile phones because of the significant number of promotions and discounts available, especially for...
Read MoreOfwat rejects Thames Water bill rise
12/11/2013 Water industry regulator, Ofwat, has rejected a planned increase in the in water prices by Thames Water, stating that it is ‘not convinced an extra bill increase is justified’. Thames Water wanted to add £29 to the annual bill of all of its customers in London and the south of England, of which there an estimated 14 million. The reason for this increased bill was the planned...
Read MoreThe BBC criticised for celebrity pay packets
The BBC has today come in for some serious criticism regarding the multi-million pound packages which are available to some of the leading figures in show business. When you consider the likes of Jonathan Ross, recently involved in a telephone scandal, is reported to have signed a £16 million contract it does start to bring home the fact that taxpayer's money is lining the pockets of celebrities...
Read More'Tax on uniforms should be uniform'
School uniform manufacturer Trutex is calling for the abolition of VAT on school-specific branded uniforms, asserting that parents with bigger children are being forced to fork out unfairly, the Guardian reports.Although uniforms for pupils at primary and middle schools are not subject to VAT, secondary school uniforms in sizes above that of an 'average-sized' child of 14 attract the full 17.5 per...
Read MoreRumours of a merger between Orange and T-Mobile persist
In a startling revelation for the UK telecoms sector it has been revealed that T-Mobile and Orange could be merged under one owner if France Telecom decides to bid for the T-Mobile operation. Deutsche Telekom, the current owner of the T-Mobile operation, is under severe pressure from shareholders to try and realign the business and reduce debts. While officially there has been no announcement it i...
Read More