KIRKWOOD, Mo. — Kirkwood police are warning of a new scam in the area. This one could leave you more than just broke, it could cost you your job.
Scammers stole close to $200,000 from a Kirkwood business — all via email.
The I-Team has been tracking this scam since 2016.
It's a nightmare scenario for any employee. An email scam takes $170,000 of your company's money with the click of your mouse.
It's a scam that hit a Kirkwood business off Leffingwell Avenue last month.
"They were contacted through email from a provider that they had, stating they owed some money. Thinking it was legitimate because it was an active account they had, they went ahead and paid a substantial amount of money," said Robert Bruhy, a detective with the Kirkwood police department.
Days later, the scammer contacted the company again. But this time, they wanted more money. That's when the business owners became suspicious and contacted police.
Now the secret service is investigating the case.
"When it involves a lot of money, we will contact them. Anything to do with counterfeit money, substantial amounts of money that can affect the country as a whole," said Bruhy.
The scam may be new to Kirkwood, but we've been tracking reports of it in the St. Louis area since 2016 when it hit another local business
"They will trick them into sending a wire transfer, thinking they're paying the supplier when in fact the money is going to a scammer," said Andrew Ryder, a supervisor special agent with the FBI.
According to the FBI, these fake invoice scams have netted more than 3 billion dollars in profit for scammers worldwide.
"People that are out there scamming the public, they're always looking for new ways. And if they can start scamming businesses, a business is going to have more cash assets at their disposal...That's what they're going to do," said Bruhy.
There are some specific steps you can take to protect yourself from this business scam.
It sounds simple, but always double check the email address you're replying to, especially if you're about to authorize a payment or send money.
And if a company calls you demanding payment, don't let them rush you into transferring funds or giving away personal information. Instead, call them back, at a number you verify yourself.