A family grieving the loss of a seafarer was left without a vital compensation payment after fraudsters infiltrated email correspondence and diverted a $200,000 settlement into their own bank account, prompting a stark warning from professional indemnity specialist the International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC).
The case, revealed in ITIC’s latest Claims Review newsletter, centres on a P&I correspondent handling settlement arrangements following the death of a crew member aboard a vessel. Unknown to those involved, a criminal gained access to the email chain and began impersonating several parties in the process, including relatives of the deceased.
Using fake email addresses and convincingly forged documents, the fraudster supplied false banking details and fabricated authorisations, ensuring the settlement funds were redirected away from the rightful recipients.
Mark Brattman, claims director at ITIC, said the incident highlights just how sophisticated payment-interception fraud has become.
He explained that criminals frequently target high-value transactions conducted under emotional or time-sensitive circumstances, where normal verification steps may be rushed or overlooked.
In this case, the fraudster exploited both the complexity of the claim and the apparent legitimacy of falsified paperwork.
Believing the instructions to be genuine, the correspondent transferred the $200,000 settlement to the provided account. The deception was only uncovered when the legitimate recipient later queried why the payment had not arrived. By then, the funds had already been withdrawn and were beyond recovery through the banking system.
Brattman warned that fraudulent emails are now so polished that they are almost impossible to identify by appearance alone.
He stressed that any change to bank details should immediately raise suspicion, particularly if an account is located in a different country from the payee or if the account name does not precisely match the intended recipient.
These discrepancies, he said, should trigger immediate verification through independent and secure channels.
Following discovery of the fraud, the P&I correspondent alerted the P&I club, and legal counsel was appointed to confirm the claimant’s identity and complete the settlement properly.
The ITIC member ultimately paid the full compensation again to the deceased seafarer’s family and covered the additional legal costs required to deliver the funds correctly.
ITIC provided cover for the correspondent’s negligence, determining that the failure lay in not detecting fraudulent communications and not verifying new banking instructions before authorising payment. The insurer also reimbursed the extra legal expenses.
Brattman urged maritime professionals handling settlements and other critical payments to strengthen internal controls and adopt strict multi-channel verification procedures.
He advised that bank details should always be confirmed via publicly listed contact information from official sources, never by relying on numbers or links supplied in emails.
The Claims Review also recounts another recent incident in which a yacht broker sent €90,000 in charter hire to a fraudulent account after a yacht owner’s email was compromised.
In that rare case, the bank managed to block the transaction and return the funds, an outcome ITIC notes is unfortunately uncommon in modern payment fraud cases.