LETHBRIDGE – Authorities in Lethbridge are warning local businesses to be aware of the rise of a costly form of fraud that has already struck two companies in the city.
Lethbridge police say "CEO frauds" are where scammers impersonate a senior ranking member of the company via email in order to have funds wired to a third party.
The email is crafted in such a way as to sound extremely urgent and confidential. It also possesses other elements, such as a similar domain name as the company's actual business address, to mask its intentions.
Unsuspecting employees may end up complying with the request to transfer the money and once the fraud has been discovered, the money is often long gone.
LPS officials say they are aware of two significant frauds of this kind in the city, with one of those costing the company $350,000.
As a result, police are advising businesses to educate their employees about the scam and be very cautious in dealing with financial requests made by staff members.
When in doubt about such a request, staff should speak with their manager or supervisor or attempt to contact the sender directly by phone or in-person before responding to verify its authenticity.
Officials say a CEO fraud was how the City of Saskatoon lost over $1 million to scammers this past August.
