Dublin business loses €2m in online scam

The Dublin business was making a payment to the UK, when they were asked to send it to a new bank account number.

People are being warned about a fraud scheme that cost a Bank of Ireland customer €2.1m.

The money had been sent to Hong Kong.

Bank of Ireland reported the fraud to the Garda Economic Crime Bureau that a customer had been the victim of an invoice re-direct scheme.

The Dublin business was making a payment to the UK when they were asked to send it to a new bank account number.

After the company had checked out the new number to be correct they sent the money, however, the phone number in the email was incorrect and belonged to a fraudster.

The money was found to have been sent to a Hong Kong bank account and after inquiries by local police, the money was recovered.

Gardaí are advising people to only contact a representative from their bank and is advising businesses to review procedures around payments.