Quebec’s provincial police force conducted a series of raids in Laval and Rosemère on Tuesday while cracking down on internet-based fraud artists who succeeded recently in breaking into the e-mail boxes of several businesses where they gained acccess to banking information that allowed them to re-direct deposits into their own accounts.
According to the Sûreté du Québec, several hundred thousand dollars were stolen in this way by the suspects who are accused of breaking into e-mail between May 12 and June 4. After gaining access, they allegedly sent false e-mails to the business’s clients, telling them to send payments to new bank accounts.
“We encourage business owners to verify and strengthen as needed their computerized security systems and to double check with their customers, ideally while speaking with them, when it’s a question of changing a bank account or dealing with a transfer payment,” the SQ said in a statement.
