Phishing scams proving costly

A phishing scam targeting a yacht broker during a high-profile Mediterranean charter resulted in a €58,000 loss, but thanks to the intervention of the International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC), the broker has been fully reimbursed. The yacht broker, who was tasked with managing charter hire payments between the charterer and the yacht's owner, became a victim of a sophisticated fraud scheme. Once the charterer had made a payment, the yacht broker was approached by someone purporting to be the owner, using an email address that differed by just a single character from the genuine address.