WHAT IS A Spoofed/Hacked Email Scam?
A scammer impersonate a victim's supplier using a similar email address. The victim will be told to transfer money to a different bank account because the supplier's regular account has been suspended or is under audit.
In another variant, scammers will hack into their victim's email account, that of the supplier's or business partner's. They will monitor the email correspondence between the two and at an opportune time, send an email to their victim to request for payment to be paid to another bank account. The spoofed email used by the scammer can closely mimic that of the original email address.
These are some examples of spoofed email addresses:
In some cases, scammers may even use the same business logo, links to the company's website, or messaging format to trick their victims into believing that they have received a genuine request for payment.
Victims will only come to realise that they have been scammed (often days later) when their actual suppliers call to inform them they have not received their payment.