PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two transposed letters in an email address cost a Chester County company $16 million.
Federal prosecutors said AMG, a global specialty metals company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, was scammed out of millions by someone impersonating a firm it works with overseas.
The email address requesting the wire transfer included the word "advanced.” But the "c" and "e" were reversed, making it read “@advanecdcircular.com” instead of “@advancedcircular.com.”
The money initially went to the bank account of a woman who told officials she was just following the instructions of a man she met on a dating site.
Prosecutors said millions of dollars were "rapidly disbursed to multiple accounts,” some of which are still being traced.
Federal authorities have not made any arrests as they try to track down who's behind this scheme and claw-back the money for AMG.
The case was first reported by Court Watch.
