FRAUD ALERT – Watch out for fraud attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Many companies are having their normal activities interrupted by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and, as a result, fraudsters may try to exploit this situation for their own advantage. As your trusted partner, CIBC focuses on fraud education and prevention. There are also things that YOU can do to protect yourself from being a victim. Watch for:

Suspicious emails:

• You may receive an email from a fraudster claiming to be a familiar vendor, supplier or colleague, asking you to update payment instructions for an EFT or wire payment.
  • Always verify any requests to change payment instructions, add a new payment beneficiary, change an account number, or change any other information for an existing beneficiary.
  • Always validate these requests verbally with a live phone call using a phone number you already have on file for this contact.
  • Do not use contact information provided in the email as it may be fraudulent.

COVID-19 scams:

• Watch for fraudulent emails related to COVID-19 where there is an offer to sell personal protective equipment, or vaccines.
  • Do not open links or attachments in any email from an unknown email address.
  • If the offer is too good to be true then it probably is, so please exercise caution!