Singapore sting: international company in Hong Kong hit by US$6.6 million hacking scam
- Firm’s financial controller conned into transferring funds into Singapore bank account after crooks took control of CFO’s email
- Police working with overseas counterparts to retrieve money
A Hong Kong-based international corporation has been conned into transferring US$6.6 million (HK$51 million) into a Singapore bank account in an email scam.
Officers in Hong Kong are working with their Singapore counterparts to retrieve the money.
“Between October 28 and November 5, the financial controller received four emails, purportedly sent out by the CFO, ordering him to settle the consultation fees and transfer US$6.65 million to a bank account in Singapore,” the source said.
As instructed, the financial controller transferred the money in four transactions, as the right documents were attached to the emails and there was nothing suspicious about the email address they were sent from.
The controller discovered it was a scam on Thursday evening, when he found out the chief financial officer had not sent the email.