A business in Norfolk County is out nearly a quarter million dollars after falling victim to an online scam.
According to provincial police, the scam took place on April 16 when an employee at the business who is responsible for paying invoices received an email from the "owner" of the business. The email requested that an invoice of $236,000 be paid to a company located in the United States.
The invoice was paid in full and soon after, the employee received an additional email asking to pay another invoice. During this time the employee got suspicious and contacted the owner. It was discovered that the email address had been compromised.
Police were contacted and are now issuing a reminder to other businesses to beware of what they call the "CEO scam."
"The invoice which was originally sent is in fact a fake invoice that will be attached," Norfolk County OPP explained in a release. "It will look just like the owner's regular email, sent directly to someone responsible for issuing payment, making that person believe that they had received a legitimate request to pay an invoice."
To help avoid being scammed, police recommend that business owners educate employees on the scam and encourage them to communicate with managers if they feel an email seems suspicious.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Ontario Provincial Police at 1 -888-310-1122 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1 -800-222-8477.
