A Ghanaian businessman is counting his blessings after he was nearly duped by online fraudsters while importing nasal sprays.
Eric Addae could have lost about $200,000 to the fraudsters who cloned the email address of his suppliers which is a big pharmaceutical company in the United States of America (USA).
Sharing his ordeal on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday, he said the fraudsters changed just one letter in the email address of his suppliers.
“I didn’t see the changes in the email so I ordered my bank to make payment to the new bank account the fraudsters sent me,” he stated.
On his way to the United Kingdom for another business transaction, he said his supplier called to prompt him about his order.
“I quickly replied that I have made payment to the bank account they had sent me. My supplier was taken aback, insisting that, they had not sent me any email. I took some shots of the email I received and they drew my attention that their email had been cloned,” he narrated.
Instantly, the businessman said he couldn’t talk and started shaking after noticing he had been duped.
With his little security background, he called his contact in FBI and cybercrime unit of the Ghana Police Service to track the fraudsters.
“I quickly called my bank in Ghana but it was too late; they had transferred the money due to the pressure I was giving them. I, therefore, decided to call FBI to track the account of the fraudster and were able to do that in record time,” he noted.
Eric Addae said he has been able to freeze the account of the fraudsters and is currently working with the security agencies to get his money back.
He appealed to businessmen and women, especially in Ghana to be very vigilant when they receive emails from their partners abroad.
“Let’s be very vigilant when we receive emails because internet fraudsters are after business people. We must also maintain a good relationship with our banks and give them time to do due diligence; it is for our own good,” he said.
Listen to Eric Addae’s story in the attached audio above: