FBI Indianapolis Warns Businesses of Cyber Scam

Robert A. Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the Indianapolis Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is issuing a cyber crime alert for Indiana-based businesses who buy or sell goods and services from companies located internationally.

The FBI’s Indianapolis Division notes a recent trend where local companies receive an e-mail from cyber criminals posing as a known point-of-contact of the victim company. The e-mail instructs the victim company to update bank account information used to send payments to the company overseas. The e-mail is actually “spoofed” to look like it was sent from a legitimate contact. The cyber criminals then access funds sent to the new account and quickly transfer money to other accounts of the cyber criminals. Since February of this year, Indiana businesses have lost more than $345,000 to this scheme.

The FBI recommends that any business that receives an e-mail with instructions to update bank account information should follow up with the company by phone before making any payments to the new account. If you believe you are a victim of a cyber crime, contact your local FBI office and file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.

Contact:
Special Agent Wendy A. Osborne
FBI Indianapolis
(317) 845-7055