If it happened to them it can happen to YOU!

Supervalu falls prey to $10 million wire fraud scam
10/20/2007 12:50:19 AM

Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho -- Supervalu, one of the nation's largest grocers, has fallen prey to an e-mail scam, losing about $10 million after wiring money to fraudulent bank accounts, according to federal court filings.
The scam is detailed in a pair of forfeiture cases filed under seal earlier this year in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
The fraud began after the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based supermarket received two e-mails -- one from someone purporting to be an American Greetings Corp. employee and another claiming to be with Frito-Lay, according to court documents. Both e-mails claimed the companies wanted payments sent to new bank account numbers.
Supervalu sent more than $6.5 million to the phony American Greetings account and nearly $3.6 million to the phony Frito-Lay account before realizing it was all a scam. The FBI was able to capture the money before it was whisked away by the scammers, but now American Greetings, Frito-Lay and Supervalu have all laid claim to the money and U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill will decide where it should go.
"Supervalu was the target of attempted financial fraud," company spokeswoman Haley Meyer wrote in a prepared statement. "We were able to quickly discover and report this to the FBI. As a result of the quick work of the Boise FBI Office and the U.S. Attorney, any funds lost are minimal."



I know Supervalu and I have worked there. Believe me, they take financial security and testing seriously. I have no knowledge of how this all came to pass and I can guess but that isn't fair. The bottom line on all this is that if a multi-billion dollar company can fall prey to an e-mail scam, so can you! I have jokingly been called "anal" in my accounting of money, finances and credit but this is a good case where that is exactly what one has to be. Supervalu caught on early to the scam and saved themselves a few million dollars of cash loss probably due to the diligence of people labeled such as myself but the days of taking anyone's word is sadly lost in this world. You have to be accountable for your funds or someone else may be.



Recently, a friend of mine who has been struggling with finances, job situation and everything else that goes with it brought an e-mail to me telling me that she was "probably going to do it".

The e-mail asked this person to apply for accounts on their behalf at Bank of America to accept funds from a company's customers with Bank of America accounts. They found her e-mail on Career builder.com. It was supposedly from a high level financial manager of a Russian Company wishing to do business in the US but found it difficult with our trade policies. Therefore this company was looking for "Contractors" who would act as their financial managers and run the US or Russian or other country's funds through Bank of America Accounts that the "Contractor" would set up. To alay any concerns or fears they assured her they were registered with the IRS AND their own financial department. A phone number and e-mail was provided as well as a company called Europay.com.



Ok, first red flag. No high level manager in any reputable company is simply going to e-mail you no matter who you are and divulge financial needs and information in such a public way.



Second red flag. Foreign country looking for domestic surrogates to set up bank accounts on their behalf. As a controller of a company, I can guarantee you that NO COMPANY would ever entrust their funds outside of their own control much less in the hands of strangers.

Third red flag. Funneling money deposted by unknown companies. In these days of homeland security and tight credit there is no way anyone should ever even think this is legitimate. Banks are pretty secure conscious when it comes to their accounts and who have set them up. Bank accounts are also periodically spot checked and the bank is notified when unusual activity starts occuring.

Fourth red flag. Commenting that a foreign government is registered with the IRS doesn't say much. The IRS will register domestic companies with an EIN (Employer Identification Number) which is used for payroll and income taxes. The IRS typically does not govern foreign companies doing business outside of the US unless it involves a US Company whereby that information is registered with the domestic company and their income from foreign sources. In this case that domestic company would actually be you and the tax liability within the US would rest with you. Bet you weren't prepared for that!

Bottom line, and I hate to sound cliche' but what seems too good to be true IS too good to be true. These letters come fast and furious posing needs anywhere from India, to the Mid East, to Asia and Europe. I haven't personally seen any within the US but I am sure they exist.

Don't fall for these scams no matter how legit and professional they may seem. They are not and you will be caught holding the proverbial empty bag.