Irish authorities recover EUR 12 mln in crackdown on foreign crime gangs

Thus, Money Laundering and Financial Intelligence units’ officers, that are part of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, managed to recover EUR 6million in Hong Kong after local companies were targeted in an “invoice redirect fraud” scam.

This type of fraud, also known as CEO fraud, is conducted by organised crime gangs disguising the emails of legitimate companies and convincing them to change their supplier’s bank details. Once sent, the scammers then ask the clients to send cash to the different account.

Earlier in 2018, EUR 300,000 was recovered after a company was targeted in a scam and EUR 120,000 was also saved in Dublin after a businessman was hit by online fraudsters, according to The Sun. In another 2017 case, EUR 2.8 million was saved just before it was due to be sent to Italy.

Among the leading Irish organisations being targeted in the scams are Dublin Zoo, Trinity College and Meath County Council.