Carlisle business victim of personalised email scam

A CARLISLE business is warning clients and other local business owners to be wary after falling victim to a cleverly crafted email scam.

Carlisle Soil Yard owner Tracey Seery sent off monthly invoices to her clients on June 22.

But she received several calls today from clients who said they had received a follow-up email informing them that details for a “subsidiary account” to receive their payments would be sent as the business’s bank account was undergoing auditing and had been frozen.

Mrs Seery said she was stunned they had been scammed as they ensure their computer is fully protected with anti-virus software.

“It just really shocked me because it appeared to come from our correct email address and had my husband’s name as a signature as it usually would,” she said.

“Our customers were really understanding as we know most of them personally so we were lucky in that regard.

“It just looked so real, and whoever had done it had exquisite skills.”

A consumer protection spokeswoman said notices of bank details changing should be a red flag for consumers.

“Scammers are really good at intercepting emails from professional bodies,” she said.

“If you receive notice that bank details have been changed, you should contact the person or business directly.

“As a business it is also advisable to add a disclaimer to the bottom of emails perhaps stating we would never email to advise of banking detail changes so if you do receive one please contact us.

“A lot of real estate agents have these sorts of disclaimers in place because of the prevalence of these types of scams.”