Company loses RM740k to email scam, police report lodged

JOHOR BARU: A company here lost more than half a million ringgit after falling for the tricks of a business email compromise (BEC) scammer posing as one of its suppliers.

State police Commercial Crime Investigations Department chief Asst Comm Mohd Salleh Abdullah said that the police received a report from the company’s representative on Wednesday (Feb 18).

“According to the complainant, the company had received an email from one of its suppliers asking them to make payment to a different bank account as there was a problem with their original bank account.

“However, after making the payment, they then received another email from the supplier, saying that they had not received the payment. The supplier also denied sending the first email or changing its bank account, ” he said in a statement Friday (Feb 19).

He said that the company suffered losses worth RM741,254 due to the scam.

ACP Mohd Salleh also urged the public, especially those dealing with company finances, to be careful when communicating through emails.

“The public should always check via phone calls before making any transactions. They should also ensure that the bank account belongs to the actual recipient, ” he said, adding that the public should also not click on any suspicious emails or messages as it may be malware.

He also told the public to use the police’s "Semak Mule" online application and website to identify accounts used by scammers in order to avoid becoming victims.