A business in Norfolk County has been scammed out of more than a quarter of a million dollars following a CEO scam.
Provincial police were contacted by the business on April 23.
A week earlier, an employee responsible for paying invoices got an email. In it, the employee’s boss appeared to ask for an invoice to be paid to a company in the United States.
The invoice, totaling $236,000, was paid in full. A second email was received asking to pay another outstanding invoice, as well.
That’s when the employee became suspicious and contacted the owner.
It turns out that the email address had been compromised without anyone’s knowledge.
Police say that a CEO scam starts when a criminal poses as a company’s president or owner by using a fake or hacked email address.
The fake owner writes to an employee in charge of paying funds to suppliers and tries to get them to send money.
Police say business owners should ensure that their employees know about the scam and encourage them to communicate with management if they receive a suspicious request.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact provincial police or Crime Stoppers.
