Payment fraud · Manufacturers and suppliers

Payment fraud against manufacturers and suppliers: cases from the public record

Cases in which a payment was redirected to the wrong account, involving manufacturers, wholesale suppliers and the customers who pay them. Each one is dated and linked to its source.

These are cases published by courts, police and regulators that we have read at source. Not every fraud is made public.

Check my firm Read the cases
Courts, police and regulatorsRead at sourceDated and linked
01 · The cases

From the public record, with the way in where the source states it.

In the United States, newest first

23 Jul 2026
Georgia, United States

A man who laundered the money was sentenced in July 2026 in a case where a hacker got into a furniture supplier's email system, posed as its staff, changed the bank details a children's hospital system held for it, and had $5.3 million wired. About $4 million was recovered.

In the source's wordsIn early June 2023, the unknown hacker accessed the email system of a commercial furniture vendor for Children’s.
The way in, as the source states itA real mailbox was taken over. The source does not say how the mailbox was entered.
Atlanta News First, reporting the US Attorney for the Northern District of GeorgiaPublished 23 Jul 2026

In other countries, newest first

15 Apr 2026
Ontario, Canada

An Ontario court decision from April 2026 covers a customer that paid $221,422 it owed a Quebec steel supplier into a fraudster's account in March 2025. The decision says the supplier's email system had been hacked.

The way in, as the source states itA real mailbox was taken over. The source does not say how the mailbox was entered.
Ontario Superior Court of Justice, 2026 ONSC 2254Published 15 Apr 2026
31 Mar 2026
British Columbia, Canada

In February 2026 an industrial business in Parksville, British Columbia lost about $400,000 after an email that appeared to come from one of its vendors asked it to update payment details. Police said in March 2026 that it seems an email account was compromised.

In the source's wordsIt seems that an email was compromised, and payment information and details that were used to make the payment were changed.
The way in, as the source states itA real mailbox was taken over. The source does not say how the mailbox was entered.
Oceanside RCMP, as reported by NanaimoNewsNOWPublished 31 Mar 2026
10 Feb 2026
Quebec, Canada

A lawsuit filed in Manitoba in May 2026 says a Quebec packaging manufacturer wired $203,664 after an email that appeared to come from its insurance broker. The claim says the address ended in "-ca.com" where the broker's ends in ".ca". That is a claim, not a finding.

In the source's wordsfrom a subtly different address, substituting “-ca.com” for the legitimate “.ca” domain
The way in, as the source states itAn address or domain made to look like the real one.
CP24, reporting a statement of claim filed in ManitobaPublished 15 May 2026

Each case is from the public source linked under it, in that source's own terms. LeakTrace had no part in any of them.

02 · The government figure

What was reported, across every line of work.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded 24,768 complaints of business email fraud in 2025, with $3.05 billion in reported losses. It does not break the figure down by how the email was faked.

Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 figures

Reported losses, as the publisher states them. They describe what was reported, not what will happen to your firm.

03 · What an outside check sees

What can be read from outside, before anyone asks for a payment.

01
Email anyone can forge

Your SPF and DMARC records, in plain words: whether a message that fakes your address is refused or delivered.

How we check it
02
Look-alike domains

Registered domains made from your firm’s name. We tell you which deserve a second look, with the public record behind each, and ask: is it yours?

How we check it
03
Shared addresses in breach records

Addresses at your domain in monitored breach databases. A reused password can open a real mailbox, and a real conversation with a client.

How we check it

An outside check cannot see inside a mailbox or a bank. Where a source does not state the way in, we do not guess it.

The outside watch for manufacturers and suppliers Cases: Builders and tradesCases: Law firmsCases: Real estate, title and closings Cases by line of work
04 · Check my firm

See what is open before anyone else does.

We read from outside, find each way in first, and show it with a check anyone can re-run. No access, nothing tested, no obligation.

What we readPublic sources only
Who sees itYou alone
Delivery72 hours from confirmation
Meeting firstNone
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