De Watergroep is warning of a new form of invoice fraud. Fraudsters alter a genuine invoice after it has been sent to you by email. They replace the correct account number with their own account number.
This can only happen if the fraudsters have access to your email account. In other words: your email account has been hacked.
This type of fraud is difficult to detect. This is because you do not receive a fake phishing email. The invoice looks genuine; only the account number has been altered.
How can you spot this?
Always check the account number on an invoice carefully before you pay.
Pay particular attention to:
- an account number you don’t recognise or that isn’t automatically recognised by your banking app;
- an invoice that you can’t find in the official customer portal;
- an account number in a different font or layout
What can you do before you pay?
Are you unsure about an invoice from De Watergroep?
- Check your invoice in De Watergroep’s online customer portal.
- Contact De Watergroep’s customer service by phone using the official number on their website.
- Do not pay if you are unsure.
- Do not use contact details found in a suspicious email or attachment.
- Read more: https://www.dewatergroep.be/nl-be/over-de-watergroep/over-ons/phishing
It is also wise to check the account number on invoices from other organisations before you pay.
What should you do if your email account has been hacked?
As this type of scam can only happen if fraudsters have access to your email account, it is important to secure your account immediately.
Be sure to do the following:
- Change your email account password immediately.
- Choose a strong and unique password that you do not use anywhere else.
- Enable two-step verification. https://safeonweb.be/en/learn-how-set-two-factor-authentication-your-accounts
- Check that no automatic forwarding rules have been set up in your email account.
- Check that no unusual filters or rules are active.
- Check whether there are any other suspicious messages in your email account.
- Notify your contacts if any suspicious messages have been sent from your email address.
Do you use the same password on other websites? If so, change that password there too.
Have you been scammed?
Take action now https://safeonweb.be/en/victim-scam
