Travel firms fall victim to email phishing CEO fraud
A travel industry anti-fraud group has warned of a new form of cybercrime threatening the sector.
Three companies, including a national business, have been recent targets of ‘payment request’ fraud, with one losing an entire season’s profits in a single transaction. However, industry anti-fraud group Profit warns the scam, which first came to light last year, is likely to be much more widespread with many travel firms failing to report incidents.
A typical fraud attempt involves an email to the finance or HR department which appears to be from a senior member of staff and requests a payment be made on behalf of the business. The staff member whose email address has been used for the fraud is typically out of the office when the request is sent.
One Sheffield-based travel company lost £15,000 from the scam earlier this month. Its joint managing director, who asked to remain anonymous, received an email from her counterpart saying they needed a payment to be carried out and asked what details they should send over.