Mumbai Firm Loses ₹36.5 Lakh in Email Spoofing Scam After Fraudsters Impersonate Japanese Supplier
Mumbai: A Mumbai-based company has allegedly fallen victim to a sophisticated cyber fraud after scammers impersonated its long-standing Japanese business supplier and sent fake banking details, resulting in the loss of ₹36.5 lakh.
Sidmark Sales Synergy LLP, which has been importing overlay paper from Japan-based Tentok Holding Company Ltd. for nearly eight years, approached the central cyber police after discovering that a payment made for its latest consignment had gone into an account that did not belong to its genuine supplier.
The company had placed an order for 18 tonnes of overlay paper from Tentok Holding. As part of the transaction, it received an email containing an invoice for approximately ₹36.5 lakh. The communication appeared to have come from the Japanese supplier, leading the company to believe that the payment instructions were genuine.
According to the complaint, the company subsequently received instructions from an email address, csales-tentok.jp@asia.com, directing it to transfer the money to a bank account in the name of Tentok Holding Company Ltd. Since the company had an established business relationship with the Japanese firm, the communication reportedly did not initially raise suspicion.
Trusting the email and the accompanying payment details, Sidmark Sales Synergy LLP transferred the entire amount from its bank account on April 15, 2026.
Supplier later says payment was never received
The fraud reportedly came to light several weeks later, on June 29, when the Mumbai company contacted its Japanese supplier regarding the payment.
To the company’s shock, Tentok Holding informed it that the ₹36.5 lakh payment had not been received. The Japanese company also confirmed that the bank account to which the money had been transferred did not belong to it.
The revelation prompted the company to contact its bank and report the matter to the cyber police. An FIR has subsequently been registered with the central cyber police, and the alleged fraudulent transaction is now under investigation.
How the alleged email spoofing worked
The incident is an example of email spoofing, a cyberattack in which criminals manipulate or forge email information so that a message appears to have been sent by a trusted individual or organisation.
In business-related scams, fraudsters may closely imitate the email address, language, branding and communication style of an established supplier. This can make fraudulent payment instructions appear legitimate, particularly when the victim already has an ongoing commercial relationship with the impersonated company.
In this case, the alleged fraudsters appear to have exploited the company’s existing relationship with Tentok Holding. Because Sidmark had been doing business with the Japanese supplier for around eight years, the payment request reportedly appeared credible.
₹36.5 lakh transferred to fraudulent account
The company was dealing with what appeared to be a routine import transaction involving 18 tonnes of overlay paper. After receiving the invoice and subsequent payment instructions, it transferred the full amount of ₹36.5 lakh to the account specified in the email.
It was only after the genuine supplier denied receiving the money that the company realised something was wrong.
The discrepancy between the payment instructions received through email and the supplier’s actual banking details raised concerns that the communication had been manipulated by cybercriminals.
The company then approached its bank and law enforcement authorities in an attempt to trace the transaction and determine where the money had gone.
A warning for businesses handling payments online
The incident highlights the risks businesses can face when financial transactions are conducted through email, even when the communication appears to come from a familiar supplier.
Companies that regularly make large payments to overseas vendors can be particularly vulnerable to such schemes if criminals manage to intercept, spoof or imitate business communications.
Cybersecurity experts generally advise businesses to independently verify any change in bank-account information or payment instructions by contacting the supplier through a previously verified phone number or another trusted communication channel.
For Sidmark Sales Synergy LLP, what appeared to be a normal payment for an established Japanese supplier ultimately turned into a ₹36.5 lakh cyber fraud case. The central cyber police are now investigating the alleged impersonation, the beneficiary account and the movement of the funds.
The case also serves as a reminder that even long-standing business relationships do not eliminate the need for additional verification when significant sums of money are being transferred based on email instructions.
News source: Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
