FRAUDULENT diversion of funds is on the rise in the maritime sector, according to London insurer International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC).
The ITIC had previously issued a warning about the fraudulent diversion of port expenses, but now it is seeing evidence of similar fraud being perpetrated across the wider marine industry.
In a typical fraud, the party due to make a payment will receive a bogus message altering the recipient's bank details. Examples have included the diversion of ship agents' disbursements accounts. Shipmanagers are also among those who have been targeted.
The email addresses used by the fraudsters are only very slightly different to the genuine ones - perhaps a single letter being omitted - making it very difficult to spot these differences, reported London's Tanker Operator.
"Any message changing account details should be regarded with suspicion, and steps taken to secure independent verification of instructions," said ITIC.
"By way of example, one shipbroker managed to frustrate an attempt to divert monthly hire payments by telephoning an owner's accounts department to verify whether or not a request to forward funds was genuine. It wasn't.
"The check should not involve replying to the suspect email, but rather using a different channel of communication or, at the very least, re-entering the email address copied from a message known to be genuine," ITIC concluded.
WORLD SHIPPING
24 March 2015 - 20:57
Insurer ITIC warns of fraud incidents rising in wider marine industry
FRAUDULENT diversion of funds is on the rise in the maritime sector, according to London insurer International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC).
WORLD SHIPPING
24 March 2015 - 20:57
Insurer ITIC warns of fraud incidents rising in wider marine industry
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