CEO fraud – cheated by the wrong boss
Increasingly, cybercriminals use CEO fraud to illegally obtain large amounts of money. Because the fraudsters get help in different ways, such as a phishing attack, the fraud is becoming increasingly difficult to detect. For the deceived, the question now arises as to whether he/she has claims for damages, has to accept these losses or even has to answer for them.
Definition of CEO fraud
According to abbreviationfinder, the CEO fraud scam is also known as CEO fraud, boss fraud or Fake President Fraud (FPF). CEO fraud is a method of fraud in which a scammer pretends to be the victim’s CEO, boss, or manager. He asks employees in a variety of ways to transfer large sums of money to a specific account. A very popular method is the phishing attack mentioned above.
Phishing attack definition
A phishing attack is an attempt to steal passwords and identifiers over the Internet. This can be done using fake emails, SMS, and similar notifications. These deceptively real fakes are received by the people concerned, who then pass on confidential content themselves. Cyber criminals use this data, for example, to plunder accounts, hack attacks on companies and for the CEO fraud discussed here.
Phishing attack : case study with solution
In a procedure in November 2020, a decision was made on just such a CEO fraud case.
As usual, the person concerned received a transfer slip from the alleged manager. This contained instructions to transfer an amount of around 20,000 euros to a specific account. The transfer slip also had a signature very similar to that of the manager. After consultation with an employee responsible for such inquiries, he then commissioned the transfer. Only afterwards could the forgery be uncovered. The fraudster seems to have obtained the necessary data to forge this transfer slip through a phishing attack. Unfortunately, the booking and payment could no longer be reversed at the time the counterfeit was discovered. The plaintiff’s request for reimbursement of the amount was also rejected.
What to do in such a situation? Can the person concerned claim damages?
In such a case, the plaintiff is entitled to a claim for reimbursement according to § 675u S. 2 BGB if it is an unauthorized payment transaction and the claim is excluded neither by law nor due to one’s own contributory negligence.
In the present case, the payment transaction was not authorized due to the forged transfer slip. An exclusion was also not apparent.
Are you looking for help with a phishing attack?
If you find yourself in this situation and are faced with the question of whether you are also entitled to damages, Mr. Kaufmann, with his many years of expertise in commercial criminal law, will be at your side for advice and also to open legal proceedings. Write us a message or call us, we will be happy to help you.
What is CEO fraud?
The CEO fraud scam is also known as CEO fraud, boss fraud or Fake President Fraud (FPF). CEO fraud is a method of fraud in which a scammer pretends to be the victim’s CEO, boss, or manager. He asks employees in a variety of ways to transfer large sums of money to a specific account. This transfer causes damage to the person concerned. It is then questionable whether the person concerned is entitled to a claim for damages.
What is a phishing attack?
A phishing attack is an attempt to steal passwords and identifiers over the Internet. This can be done using fake emails, SMS, and similar notifications. These deceptively real fakes are received by the people concerned, who then pass on confidential content themselves. Cyber criminals use this data, for example, to plunder accounts, hack attacks on companies and for the CEO fraud discussed here.
When can the person concerned claim damages?
In such a case, the plaintiff is entitled to a claim for reimbursement according to § 675u S. 2 BGB if it is an unauthorized payment transaction and the claim is excluded neither by law nor due to own contributory negligence.
