National: Irish businesses scammed out of €6.5m via email fraud

OVER SIX million has been stolen from Irish businesses through fraudulent emails in 2023, it has been revealed.

Up until September, €6.5m was stolen, a decrease on 2022 where €11m had been stolen from companies based in Ireland. 

In most cases, money is transferred abroad and the number of reports of business email compromise fraud is 158 to date this year.

An Garda Síochána is now warning businesses to be ‘very wary’ of sending payments online, especially when asked to send money to "new bank account numbers”.

“While the amount of business email compromise fraud has fallen in 2023, people are still working in remote settings and may not be as wary as they may be in a work environment,” said a spokesperson. 

“However, the downward trend continues, with a drop of 23% so far in 2023, in this type of fraud is landing almost €7 million so far this year, and has reached the pockets of mostly international organised crime gangs.”

Business email compromise fraud, also known as invoice re-direct fraud, is where a fraudster sends an email to an individual or a business and asks for an invoice to be paid immediately. 

To do this, fraudsters might send an email with a spoof email address, a ‘spear phishing’ email (an email that looks like it’s from a trusted source), or use malware to take over a legitimate business email account and send an email from that.

Detective Superintendent, Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, said: "Unfortunately, no business is immune to this type of scam - the victims of business email compromise fraud range from very small businesses to large corporations. 

“The consequences of falling for a scam such as this can be catastrophic and may even result in the closure of businesses and redundancies. All employees should be aware of this fraud and receive training to avoid this type of scam. 

“If in any doubt, delay the transfer and report any suspected fraud to your bank and to Gardaí as soon as possible – early reporting can be the difference between recovering most of the funds versus very little.”

Gardaí are advising members of the public who believe they are a victim of business email compromise fraud to contact any garda station and report the crime.