How Chinese scammers almost robbed Barbie for $ 3 million

Recently , the details of the scam , which last year almost managed to turn to scammers from China, became known . Their victim could be the American company Mattel, a famous manufacturer of toys, and the catch - $ 3 million.



It all started with an email that the company's CFO received on behalf of the new CEO Christopher Sinclair, who was hired by the board of directors just a month before. The letter received on Thursday evening contained an instruction to transfer a certain amount of money to the account of the Chinese partner of the company.

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Since, apart from the approval of two top managers, no other confirmations were required to transfer money, the financial director made the transfer to Wenzhou Bank in China.



After some time, having met with the CEO personally, the CFO mentioned the successful transfer of funds - but it turned out that Sinclair did not send any instructions about the transfer of money. Managers rushed to call their bank, police and FBI.



However, it turned out that the money had already gone to the account in China. The FBI said that with the help of similar frauds, American companies have already lost almost $ 2 billion. Most of the money disappears through the banks of China or Hong Kong. China is viewed by US law enforcement as the largest center for money laundering.



But so carefully prepared swindlers summed up the miscalculation. The following day after ill-fated Thursday came May 1 - the Day of International Solidarity of Workers, which is a weekend in China. Due to this delay, the management of Mattel managed to contact the police of China, and she managed to start an investigation on time.



On Monday, when the Wenzhou Bank opened, the head of the Chinese anti-fraud division of the company met with the bank’s management and handed the letter to the FBI. The respective accounts were frozen, and two days later the money was returned to the owner.



In a letter to the police leadership in the region, Mattel heartily thanked them for their “responsibility and great ability to respect the rule of law”. Malefactors while remain not found.



Mattel Inc is an American company, one of the world's largest toy manufacturers, which began operations in 1945. In addition to Barbie, the company is known for toys from the series Fisher-Price, Monster High, Winx Club, Hot Wheels and Matchbox, Masters of the Universe, American Girl, WWE, as well as board games.