Save an important Venetian company. The immediate intervention of specialized postal police investigators is essential
The Verona State Police intervened following a report from a manager of an important economic reality operating in the Verona province regarding a possible scam carried out via the internet.
The staff of the company's accounting office had in fact been contacted by the self-styled CEO of the Group and - in the belief that they were communicating with the top management of the industrial group - induced to make transfers to a foreign current account for a total amount of more than one million of Euro. This is a scam which is usually also perfected through web profiling and analysis of the social accounts of the Company's managers and employees, with the acquisition of valuable information on corporate dynamics and relationships.
The Postal Police, having received the report, immediately activated - through the Central Service - the international police cooperation channels through the Financial Information Unit of the Bank of Italy, managing to block the transaction and returning the large sum of money before the actual transfer to foreign accounts.
The timeliness of the reporting and the speed of intervention of the specialized operators played a fundamental role in the success of the operation.
The scam perpetrated against the Scaligera company falls into the category of so-called "CEO Frauds", also known as "boss scams" or "CEO scams", among the most dangerous cyber attacks for businesses, which can cause non-recurring damage. only economic but also reputational towards the companies and managers involved.
In this criminal scheme, a person who is in a top position within a corporate organization and who has spending powers is contacted by a fraudster who, posing as the CEO of the company and representing the need for a transfer of immediate funds induces him to transfer a large sum of money, normally to a foreign account.
This type of scam is very insidious and difficult to recognise, because it is normally preceded by careful preparation activities, consisting of study and in-depth analysis of the target company, so-called activities. of "social engineering" which allows criminals to have names and references on the structure, such as to make the proposed emergency situation credible.
To recognize and prevent this scam, the State Police recommends:
- Pay attention to receiving emails or phone calls urgently requesting the payment of a sum of money, to current accounts other than those normally used, including foreign ones;
- Pay attention to requests to arrange urgent payments, perhaps with procedures different from those normally followed and to be carried out with absolute confidentiality;
- If you receive suspicious emails or phone calls, contact the person the scammer is trying to impersonate through a different and secure communication channel within the company organization, asking for confirmation of the situation presented;
- Prepare procedures within the corporate organization for accounting staff that allow the need for the transfer of funds to be ascertained with certainty.
Remembering that it is always possible to consult the official portal of the Postal Police www.commissariatodips.it, the timeliness of the complaint and report to the Postal Police allows for the immediate activation of investigative investigations aimed also at the possible recovery of the sums and the identification of the perpetrators.
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