Cyber criminals and hackers are targeting these industries specifically due to the high values that change hands on a regular basis via electronic transfer. The scam typically involves illegally accessing the email accounts of both businesses and customers, intercepting the correspondence, and replacing the bank details of the payee with different bank details, after which the money is swiftly transferred elsewhere. The offending invoice or bank details appear to come from the business itself, so there is nothing to suggest anything untoward has occurred. Once the money has been transferred to the criminal bank account, it is rapidly dissipated between dozens of other bank accounts, effectively ‘disappearing’, with the original invoice remaining unpaid.

AXA ART Insurance recommends that all policyholders be aware of this scam and advise the following: