Munich: Fraudster cheated the Greens by several thousand euros – Munich
The state office of the Bavarian Greens fell victim to financial fraud at the beginning of August. The police have now arrested a 25-year-old suspect in a bank in Cologne, just as he was about to close the recipient account of a transfer. Whether it was just a middleman or straw man of an organization is still being determined. A large part of the money, it is said to be a sum in the mid-five-digit range, has been secured in his account, the remaining sum has already been transferred abroad, reported Maximilian Niedermayer, head of the Munich Commissariat 77, which is responsible for fraud cases, among other things responsible is.
The scams in which companies and organizations are harmed are similar. In the case of the Greens, according to Niedermayer, a person who was still unknown at the time sent an email to a financial accountant on August 4th posing as the state chairman. The letter pretended that the party had to pay a claim in the mid-five-digit range. The financial accountant then transferred the money to a domestic recipient account. When reviewing the account transactions, the transfer was noticed, which is why the party filed a criminal complaint on August 11th. Five days later I was able to secure the majority of the money, the national association announced.
In other cases, the damage is in the millions
The Munich police recorded 89 fraud attempts or successful cases last year, and the trend is rising every year, says Niedermayer. But not all those affected filed a complaint for fear of a loss of image. The amount of damage per case ranges from several hundred euros to several million.
The scam is known as CEO fraud. The former stands for managing director, fraud is the English word for fraud. Unknown perpetrators collect extensive information about the structures of the company to be attacked via annual accounts, social media or press releases. As the supposed managing director, they then lead an employee to transfer an amount of money to a domestic or foreign account. Contact is usually made via forged e-mails. The perpetrators worked with a lot of pressure and urgency, using their authority as managing directors, referring to previous communication, feigning confidentiality or emphasizing the importance of the addressee, says Niedermayer.
Good technical possibilities and control mechanisms are required to protect themselves. He advises companies to pay attention to what is made public where and how. E-mails should be checked for the sender address and correct spelling and the payment request verified. If you are sure, you should contact the bank and the police as soon as possible. The Greens announced that they would tighten their security system and continue to train employees with regard to cyber crime.