Dutch Company Falls Victim to International Fraud Scheme

An international criminal organization has successfully defrauded a company in the Netherlands of approximately EUR8.7 million. The perpetrators employed a method known as CEO fraud, which involves tricking companies into transferring funds by impersonating legitimate executives using false identities.

According to reports from the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department, between April 14 and May 9, 2025, the fraudsters posed as the CEO and legal counsel of the sole shareholder of the Dutch firm. Under the guise of a confidential corporate acquisition, they persuaded company officials to execute a series of 17 bank transfers. The criminals utilized advanced techniques, including deepfake videos, forged documents, and fabricated meeting minutes. They even manipulated the voice of the actual CEO during video conferences to further convince their targets.

The illicit transactions were directed to accounts located in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Austria. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Department became aware of the situation through multiple suspicious transaction reports after local banks flagged unusual transfers and refund requests from the victim's bank in the Netherlands. Concurrently, the affected company filed a complaint in mid-May for severe fraud, forgery, identity theft, and money laundering.

Thanks to collaborative efforts between the Austrian FIU and the Asset Recovery Office (ARO) of the National Criminal Investigation Department, along with the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office, authorities froze four bank accounts in Austria containing a total of around EUR1.5 million on May 22, 2025. Investigations into the identities of the fraudsters are ongoing. The director of the National Criminal Investigation Department emphasized that this case dramatically illustrates the lengths to which criminals will go to exploit digital manipulation techniques for corporate deception.