Erfurt (dpa/th) - Criminals cheated a company in Erfurt by more than two million euros. They used a scam that experts call "CEO fraud". One of the scammers pretended to be the managing director and had contacted an employee of the company several times since mid-December, the Erfurt State Police Inspectorate announced on Thursday. The employee was asked to make several transfers to foreign accounts. The investigators did not want to announce further details when asked for the time being.

According to the police, the perpetrators of this scam first collect information about a company, for example from the commercial register, brochures, the company website and social networks. Employees are also spied on in this way, especially those who work in bookkeeping or accounting. They then pretend to be managing directors or trading partners and use a pretext to ask them to transfer larger sums to accounts abroad.

The police recommend companies to specifically inform their employees about this scam. You should also be careful what information you publish about your company. Clear rules on absences and internal control mechanisms should also be introduced.