Already in February, U.S.-based business intelligence firm Seafax has reported over 12 cases of business fraud, primarily involving fraudulent product sourcing and fraudulent bank change notifications. The actual number of fraud attempts is likely much higher, with many going unreported.

Instances of fraudulent product sourcing involve individuals impersonating legitimate companies to purchase food products from suppliers. These scammers use contact details that closely resemble those of the actual company, making detection difficult. According to Seafax reports, all cases involved domain name manipulation, with some escalating to fraudulent credit applications.

Domain name manipulation is when a scammer creates an email address with an email domain name that is slightly different from the domain name of the legitimate company.



For example, if ABC Company has always used the domain abc.com, legitimate emails would come from @abc.com. However, through domain manipulation, scammers might create a deceptive lookalike website, such as abc-company.com, and use an email from @abc-company.com to make fraudulent product inquiries.

A simple way to detect this type of fraud is by checking the domain registration date of the suspicious email address. For instance, if you receive an inquiry from purchasing@abc-company.com, you can use a “Whois” lookup tool to verify the domain abc-company.com. If that lookalike domain was registered less than a year ago, there is a good chance you may be dealing with domain name manipulation. In such cases, proceed with caution and thoroughly vet the inquiry before engaging.

The second fraud category reported by Seafax is fraudulent bank change notification. In this scheme, scammers contact businesses claiming their bank account details have changed. They often use domain manipulation and fake invoices to deceive recipients and redirect payments to unauthorized accounts.

Our recommendation is that you exercise caution and thoroughly verify all electronic and verbal communications. Relying solely on credit checking firms and credit reports may not be sufficient enough anymore.



If you would like more details on this report, please connect with your Tradex Foods Representative for further information.

--- If you’re not already, be sure to subscribe to our 3-Minute Market Insight for seafood updates and insights delivered right to your inbox.