Sunday, January 19, 2014

No more Internet Fraud!






Japanese companies are being warned to look out for potential cyber-fraud and scams that specifically target trading companies or exporters.
Most of them, may not have the time, knowledge or resources available to invest in security systems that provide better resilience to scams. This is a vulnerability that scammers know of and use to their advantage.
Japanese Companies (suppliers) have been attacked by hackers, who enter in their computer system and steal all contacts from email book address. Then, these ‘scammers’ watch all communication between Japanese supplier and buyers, waiting the right time to attack you.
This happen when the deal is done and your supplier from Japan issue your pro-forma invoice and send to you by email. After a while you will receive an Authorization Letter from these Scammers saying that its bank account has changed.

 

 

If you don’t take the following actions, perhaps you will be a victim of internet fraud:

1)     Make sure all communication (emails) comes from your Supplier, not Hackers (who make very similar email accounts to your supplier)
2)     Avoid any payment from suspicious email which attached AUTHORIZATION LETTER or saying that bank account has changed.
3)     Before you make any payment, try to call your supplier to double check the bank account
4)     Call your supplier and request your pro forma by fax (make sure it will come from you trust supplier). Never request by email (Hackers will send you fake fax too)
5)     Usually this hackers will ask you to make payment to different company name than you are dealing with or private accounts sometimes in different country. Never make unusual wire transfer besides your supplier.


   J. Trading Corporation supports initiatives aimed at fighting internet fraud and scams. While there are ways to reclaim funds if you have been defrauded, you should think twice before parting with your money. Before making any transfers to a company that you have never dealt with before you should ascertain that you are dealing with a legitimate business.
There are good reasons why many leading banks encourage their clients to be extra careful when dealing with an internet business and very often require a reconfirmation before carrying out any remittance request.
It is of course best to prevent becoming a victim of fraud in the first place
J. Trading Corporation is doing all possible to prevent and stop Internet Fraud related crimes. In the past we successfully terminated attempts of the criminals to take advantage of internet media with the purpose of deceiving customers and making them transfer the payments for the goods they never possessed. We have the latest technology recommended by the cyber police division to make sure that all attempts for criminal action are intercepted within the shortest possible time.
If you are reporting a fraud case please be specific with such details as names of the people you were dealing, internet address, bank account you transferred the payment. There are two effective police forces in place to fight internet fraud and we highly advise you to report your case to the professionals:
In case the fraud is coming from US based company, you can report it to FBI affiliated organization called Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC Center) The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at all levels, IFCC offers a central repository for complaints related to Internet fraud, works to quantify fraud patterns, and provides timely statistical data of current fraud trends.


Here are some more tips to reduce the chances of being a victim of Internet Fraud.

 Here are basic things that you need to have in mind:
  1. Company must have an Official Webpage with own domain
  2. Company should have its physical address, phone numbers and fax numbers on the website.
  3. Company must have its license or registration number
  4. Contact JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
  5. Contact your Embassy in Japan. The embassy of your country in Japan has local knowledge and may in many cases provide you with information you need to make a sensible decision.