[12 January 2026] – [London] – P&I correspondents are being urged to
strengthen their payment verification procedures after a fraudster
intercepted email communications during a sensitive crew claim and
diverted a US$200,000 settlement, according to International Transport
Intermediaries Club (ITIC).
In a case cited in ITIC’s most recent Claims Review, a P&I
correspondent was managing a sensitive crew-claim settlement when a
third party intercepted email communications and began impersonating
several individuals involved in the process, including members of the
deceased’s family.
Mark Brattman, Claims Director at ITIC, said: _“This case is a stark
reminder of how sophisticated payment-interception fraud has become.
Email interception is a well-known method of fraud and it often targets
high value payments, particularly where the correspondence is sensitive
or time pressured. In this case, the fraudster took advantage of a
complex and emotional situation and relied on the apparent credibility
of the forged documentation._
_“The quality of fraudulent emails is constantly improving and it is
becoming almost impossible to tell if it is fraudulent just from reading
it. Checks need to be made to verify if the emails are real. Any changes
to bank details should be seen as a huge red flag. Similarly, if bank
details appear to be in a different country to where the real payee is
located, or if the account name differs from the real payee’s name,
this should set alarm bells ringing,”_ Brattman added.
Using fake email addresses and fabricated documents, the fraudster
supplied false bank details and fraudulent settlement authorities.
Believing the communications to be genuine, the correspondent
transferred the US$200,000 settlement to the fraudulent account
provided.
The fraud only came to light when the actual family contacted the
correspondent to ask why they had not received the payment. By that
point, the funds had already been withdrawn by the fraudster and could
not be recovered.
The correspondent notified the P&I Club immediately. Legal counsel was
appointed to verify the claimant’s identity and finalise the
settlement correctly. The member paid the full settlement again from
their own funds and also had to cover the additional legal costs to
ensure the family received what they were owed.
The correspondent was covered by ITIC, which assessed the incident as a
failure to identify fraudulent communications and verify new bank
details before authorising payment. ITIC also reimbursed the
correspondent for the additional legal costs.
_“We highly encourage correspondents to take extra care to verify
identities and payment instructions through secure, multi-channel
communication. Bank details should always be checked by calling a
publicly available telephone number, such as one listed on an official
website, rather than any number supplied in an email. We strongly
encourage members to put robust fraud prevention measures in place and
to maintain strong internal control systems, especially when managing
settlements or any other critical payments,”_ Brattman concluded.
Further fraud-prevention guidance is available on the ITIC website.
