We have been seeing a growing trend of a criminal cyber-fraud scheme affecting large and small businesses, individuals and banks, by which payments are unknowingly sent to a criminal’s account as a result of an email hack allowing the criminal to pose as the payee. Upon receiving the funds, the criminal drains its account, often leaving a dispute between the payor and the payee over responsibility for the loss. This Alert describes how criminals commonly carry out this scheme to help you be aware of what to watch out for; discusses the difficulty under the law in determining responsibility when this fraud occurs; and provides some preliminary methods to mitigate the risk. The Alert can be found here.
Client Alert: Beware of Payment Instructions over Email – January 11, 2021
