Business fraud

Fake president fraud

A new type of fraud that targets businesses has come to Montréal – “fake president” fraud. The defrauder gathers information about the company and the people who hold key positions. Then the defrauder emails the person in charge of bank transfers, pretending to be the director or president of the company. On the pretext of an urgent, confidential capital operation, the fake president asks for an immediate transfer to an international account.

This type of defrauder skillfully manipulates information and psychological mechanisms and can be very persuasive with the employee. In some cases, the defrauder may even make telephone contact and imitate the president’s voice. Once the transfer is issued, the money is quickly transferred to other accounts. 

Phoney supplier

In this stratagem, the defrauder pretends to be a supplier and asks, for a variety of reasons, for a profile update, providing false information including a new bank account number. When the supplier’s account is paid, the money is directed to the bank account controlled by the defrauder.

Phoney information technician

One case of a phoney information technician has also been reported in the Montréal area. An unknown person calls, passing himself off as an information technician and claiming to need to do tests as part of an IT migration process. The client does a “test” transfer and the money disappears…