Urgent emails from company owners or management may not be what they seem, according to a new fraud warning from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Friday.
“Suppose you get an email at work that’s flagged as urgent coming directly from your supervisor, except it’s not,” said Sean Hassett, deputy district attorney. “In the business email compromise scam, criminals will disguise email addresses to look like they’re being sent from within the victim’s workplace.”
Scammers will use a fake email address resembling that of a company owner or manager. An ensuing email then directs an employee to initiate a wire transfer to a client, when in reality it ends up in the hands of a fraudster.
The DA’s Office recommends these tips to avoid becoming a victim.
- Review all payment requests closely.
- Look at all email and web addresses, and ensure they were indeed sent from the sender.
- Confirm all forms of payment with all parties involved.
Hassett explains more in this video: https://da.co.la.ca.us/community/fraud-alerts/.
Those interested in more information can follow @LADAOffice on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date news. The above information was shared with The Signal via a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
