Summons Lawyers have succeeded in having the Court of Instruction (a type of criminal court) Number 21 of Madrid, in Preliminary Proceedings number 882/2022, agree to open oral trial against the four defendants accused of perpetrating a fraud of nearly 180,000 euros using the technique known as Email spoofing, which affected a US company in December 2021.
What is Email Spoofing?
Email Spoofing is a criminal technique that operates on the principle of identity impersonation through email. Often also known as "invoice fraud" due to its common application in that field. This strategy involves sending emails that, at first glance, appear to be from a genuine and legitimate entity or address, but are actually the work of a third party who fraudulently receives payment. The particularity behind this deception is manipulating the recipient's perception, leading them to believe that the message content originates from a trusted source. By employing social engineering tactics, Email Spoofing particularly targets businesses, leveraging established trust relationships with their suppliers or clients to achieve fraudulent ends.
Among other digital frauds cybercriminals use to deceive their victims are:
Phishing: One of the most frequent attacks. Criminals send emails that simulate being from legitimate institutions (like banks or social networks) to deceive users into providing sensitive data such as passwords or credit card numbers.
Vishing: Similar to phishing, but using phone calls. Scammers call victims pretending to be representatives of legitimate institutions to obtain personal information.
Spear Phishing: A more targeted version of phishing, where the attacker customizes the email for a specific person or company, increasing the likelihood that the victim will fall for the deception.
Ransomware: Malicious software that blocks access to the victim's files or systems and demands payment (usually in cryptocurrencies) to unlock them.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack: The criminal intercepts and sometimes modifies the information exchanged between two parties (like a user and a bank) by inserting themselves into their communication.
Technical Support Scams: Scammers pretend to be technical support agents (for example, from Microsoft) to convince victims that their computers have a problem and solicit payment to "fix" it.
Online Credit Card Fraud: Using stolen card data, criminals make online purchases or sell this data on the black market.
Watering Hole Attack: The attacker compromises specific websites they know the victim will visit to attempt to infect their device with malware.
Drive-by Downloads: These are downloads that are activated simply by visiting a malicious website, without needing to click on anything.
Fake Wi-Fi Hotspots: Cybercriminals create fake Wi-Fi access points in public places, and when people connect to them, they can intercept the information they send and receive.
Given the seriousness of the situation, Summons Lawyers, in defense of their client, have requested sentences of up to six years in prison, fines, and payment of civil liability for each of the four accused.
Fortunately, in this case, Summons Lawyers not only made progress in criminal proceedings. With quick intervention with the bank and the National Police, Openbank, the banking entity where the defrauded funds ended up, blocked nearly 160,000 euros before the accused could empty the account. Thanks to this action, this amount was reimbursed to their client in less than two months, thus minimizing the financial damage suffered by the company.
At Summons Lawyers, we see an increase every day in Email Spoofing victims, with high-value frauds. It is essential that company accounting departments take due diligence measures, being cautious to try to prevent these types of scams.
The digital environment has revolutionized the way we operate, but it has also brought new risks. In response, at Summons Lawyers, in addition to defending our clients in the field of economic criminal law, we advise on claims to banking institutions for the recovery of funds in these cases, where often, due to anti-money laundering policies, financial entities freeze funds in suspicious transactions.
