Greek police have identified two foreign nationals in connection with a €4 million cyberfraud case targeting a Greek shipping company through the Business Email Compromise, or BEC, method.

The investigation began after a representative of the shipping company filed a complaint in August 2025, reporting that the company had fallen victim to computer fraud.

According to the Hellenic Police, the perpetrators gained unauthorised access to email correspondence between the company and a partner bank abroad. They then allegedly used a fake email address closely resembling that of the company, along with forged payment orders, to transfer €4 million to a bank account held by a Bulgaria-based company.

Police said the funds were initially frozen and were later recovered in full, preventing them from being split up or moved on to other accounts.

The two individuals identified include the legal representative of the company that held the receiving bank account and the person involved in managing that account. A case file has been formed against them for computer fraud involving a particularly large sum and unauthorised access to an information system or data.

The recovery of the funds followed coordinated action by the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate, the Authority for Combating Money Laundering, the Directorate of International Police Cooperation through its Europol Division, and the banks involved.

The case file has been submitted to the competent prosecutor.

Police stressed that the case underlines the importance of immediately reporting cyberfraud incidents, as early notification of both authorities and banking institutions proved decisive in recovering the full amount.

Business Email Compromise scams are among the most common forms of targeted cyber fraud against companies worldwide. In these cases, criminals either gain access to or impersonate corporate email accounts, monitor business communications over time, and intervene at a critical stage of a financial transaction by changing bank details so that money is diverted to accounts under their control.