A man in Limassol lost €90,000 in an online car purchase

The Limassol police are investigating a major cyberfraud case in which a 42-year-old local resident became the victim. The man lost a large sum of money while trying to buy a car online.
The victim found an ad for a car sale on a specialized European website and contacted the seller. The parties agreed on the terms of the deal, after which the buyer received an invoice by email with bank details for payment. The man made a bank transfer of €90,000, but it soon became clear that the seller had not received the money and that the correspondence had been conducted from a fake email address.
The investigation found that the fraudsters intercepted the emails (a Man-in-the-Middle scheme), changed the seller’s original bank details to their own and sent the buyer a fake invoice. The police cybercrime unit is urging Cyprus residents to be extremely vigilant when making large online payments and to always verify bank details through alternative communication channels before sending money.