Fraudsters dupe two NI businesses out of over £350,000

Police say both businesses had their emails hacked and payments of £20,000 and £330,000 were paid into bogus accounts.

Detective Inspector Paul Robinson says enquiries are ongoing, and efforts are being made to have the money refunded.

He said: "Unfortunately, two businesses, both acting in good faith, have lost significant amounts of money at the hands of unscrupulous fraudsters.

"This is sadly further evidence that fraudsters are relentless in their pursuit of other people's money and will stop at nothing in an attempt to dupe people.

"Because of the variety of scams, from mandate fraud to phone and email scams to the more sophisticated scams where people become victims of romance or investment scams, everyone needs to be on their guard.

"Scams can be so convincing it is easy to be duped, which is why it's more important than ever that everyone exercises caution.

“I can't stress enough to never ever give out any personal or financial information to an unverified source via email or over the phone. If a supplier suggests they have changed an account number please ensure you are 100 per cent sure this is the case. Don’t take an email as proof. Please, be vigilant, and be on your guard."

Anyone concerned they have been a victim of a scam either report the matter to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or by phoning 0300 123 2040. Police can be contacted on the non-emergency number 101.

For further advice and information visit www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni or the ScamwiseNI Facebook page @scamwiseni

--- Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.