CEO scam, President scam, CEO fraud, grandchild trick 4.0 or targeted phishing are all terms for the fake request to transfer money from a CEO. Staff in the Accounting Department and secretaries are often directly targeted and contacted by cyber criminals.
If targeted, contact the Landeskriminalamt (State Police Department’s) Single Point of Contact for Cybercrime.
Should you be blackmailed as a company:
Landeskriminalamt NRW
The NRW Landeskriminalamt’s Single Point of Contact for Cybercrime is available around the clock:
Single Point of Contact
Email: cybercrime.lka@polizei.nrw.de
Telephone: +49 211 939-4040
Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office:
ZAC NRW, which is headed by Senior Public Prosecutor Markus Hartmann, also investigates itself and performs some special functions within the judiciary in North Rhine-Westphalia
Email: zac@sta-koeln.nrw.de
Telephone: +49 221 477 4922 (24/7-Hotline for enterprises and critical infrastructures).
If you are being blackmailed as a private individual: Responsible specialist police stations for Cologne
Cybercrime: Kriminalkommissariat 35, Telephone + 49 221 229 8355
General computer fraud: Kriminalkommissariat 33, Telephone +49 221 229 8335
Computer crime prevention: Kriminalkommissariat Prävention/Opferschutz, Telephone +49 221 229 8655,
Email: poststelle.koeln@polizei.nrw.de
The services are available weekdays between 07:30 – 16:00.
Alternatively, you can file an criminal complaint online with the police.
Also report attempted fraud
If your company receives emails or phone calls from cyber criminals, these attempts at fraud should also be reported to the authorities. This helps the police get a better overall picture, which can help catch the perpetrator.
You will find more information on the page Reporting the offense online.
Report by email to: cybercrime.lka@polizei.nrw.de.
Please send such emails to the Landeskriminalamt as attachments to your email, so that the important meta details do not get lost.
Related links
Botfrei.de: Enkeltrick 4.0: Zielphishen in Unternehmen
IHK Köln: IHK warnt vor “Chef-Trick
Bundeskriminalamt: Warnhinweis und Flyer zu CEO-Fraud
HypoVereinsbank: Leitfaden “Fake President Fraud” oder “CEO-Fraud”
Golem.de: CEO-Fraud bei Leoni