An international hacking gang that monitored the emails of a Qatari food-related company siphoned off $111,000 by posing as a client, reports Arabic daily Al-Sharq. The Qatari company filed a case with the Court of Appeal when the client refused to honour the deal because they never received the money.
According to the newspaper, the Qatar Court of Appeal issued a ruling supporting the Qatari company and ordered the client company to pay $111,000 and 880 cents along with a compensation of QR10m. The client has been ordered to bear the expense as one of the recipients of the mail was an employee of the client who did not raise an alarm about the bank account or the mail being fake.
The hackers had frozen the email account of the Gulf-based client company before sending an email that looked similar to that of the client; only one letter changed in the email ID; officials from both the client company and the bank were marked.
The mail asked the Qatari company to transfer $111,000 so that the shipment can be dispatched. The bank to which the money need to be transferred was in Europe, but the account bore the same name of the company. Transfer was made and the Qatari company contacted the client. The client then realised that the money was transferred to a wrong account and authorities were alerted.
But by then the money was withdrawn and the bank account was closed. The client company refused to bear any responsibility and the shipment was cancelled. This is when the Qatar company, left with no choice, filed a case with the Court of Appeals and won the case in its favour.
