Friday afternoon fraud on increase

Gideon Shirazi, of 4 Pump Court, considers cyber fraud in shipping and the risks of charterers’ misdirected payments


The afternoon before hire is due, a charterer receives an email from the ship manager’s email address asking him to pay the hire and giving the details of the bank account. Suspecting nothing, the charterer transfers the money. Two days later, the manager chases the charterer for the hire. The charterer protests that he has paid and, after some investigations, they quickly discover that the charterer has been the victim of fraud. By this time, the money is long gone.