“The payment is finally recovered!” Days ago, the International Finance Department of Beilun Branch, ABC, informed a foreign trade company in Beilun that the deceived payment of nearly EUR 110,000 was finally recovered.

How was the company deceived? On the afternoon of April 27, 2021, the International Finance Department of Beilun Branch, ABC, suddenly received a call from a foreign trade company in Beilun that there was an abnormality in the overseas remittance completed on April 21, and the overseas customer failed to receive the payment.

The operator of this remittance was quite impressed, and remembered that the manager of the company came and handled the overseas remittance; the bank operator reviewed the documents according to the normal process and handled the remittance on the same day. However, on April 25, the International Finance Department received a telegram from the overseas beneficiary bank that the fund was credited, but it should be immediately checked by the remitter. Then the operator asked the financial staff of the company about the matter, and reminded that there were cases of deceived payment due to the hacking of enterprise email address. On the next day, the financial staff responded that there was no problem, and the overseas customer received the payment.

But on the afternoon of April 27, the thing changed again. The International Finance Department of Beilun Branch, ABC, was aware of the case that the company received an email from the overseas customer requesting to change the remittance information, and the Application for Remittance was filled as instructed by the customer. However, a few days after the remittance, the company received a reminder email from the overseas customer and was told that the email was hacked; finally, the company realized that it was an email fraud. The International Finance Department immediately sent an email and asked the beneficiary bank to stop the payment, and inquired the status of the remittance. However, the beneficiary bank replied that the fund had been credited, and its status could not be disclosed as restricted by the local law.

Upon learning of the matter, Beilun Branch, ABC, urgently convened the relevant leaders and handling staff to establish a WeChat group, to actively recover the payment for the company. Although the overseas beneficiary bank refused to refund, they did not give up, but try their best to communicate with the beneficiary bank under the support of the superior bank, and sent multiple electronic messages. Through cooperation between the top and bottom, and domestic and foreign linkage, especially the negotiation between overseas branch of ABC and the overseas beneficiary bank, the payment was returned over three months later.

Beilun Branch, ABC, hereby suggest all companies paying attention to the security of their email accounts, and improving the ability to resist hackers by using formal firewalls and anti-virus software. Once it is found that the e-mail is fraudulently used, the company shall report the incident) to the police immediately, and contact the bank to freeze the related account, thus minimizing the loss. (Reporter: Cai Xiaoxin; Correspondent: Guo Xingyun)