A MARBELLA luxury estate agency has fallen victim to a sophisticated ‘phishing’ scam which saw €2 million be taken from their account.
The agency had received a fraudulent SMS text that appeared as though it came from their bank and informed them of ‘a process of an email change’, urging them to ring a provided phone number if they did not recognise the transaction.
A fake bank manager then alerted the agency to supposed fraudulent charges on the company account which prompted the victims to provide verification codes to the cybercriminals.
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They did so as they believed they were undergoing a process of cancellation of irregular transactions and refunding money.
In providing these messages, through what they thought was a legitimate security process, criminals were able to obtain control of the luxury estate agent’s online banking systems.
With access to this account, they transferred €2 million to various accounts in the Netherlands.
Upon receiving a denuncia regarding this crime, the Marbella Policia Nacional acted urgently and managed to freeze four Dutch bank accounts and secure the stolen money.
In doing so they prevented it reaching third-party accounts.
This success was down to Policia Nacional cyber agents in Marbella and collaboration from various other police units, courts, magistrates and fraud prevention departments of concerned banks.
The crime has been labelled as a combination of social engineering and phishing procedures as it saw the impersonation of financial managers to generate a climate of trust in which the estate agency became vulnerable.
Following this crime officials are reminding citizens of how to prevent similar frauds from happening to them.
They urge people to not share personal data nor bank details through links received by text or email.
People must also verify communications by contacting official channels and report any alarming messages or suspected fraud to the Policia Nacional.
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