More than €13,000 has been extorted from a company via email fraud, police said on Wednesday.

The case was reported to the tax and customs administration department by a company representative.

According to the complaint, on October 20, the Nicosia-based company received an email, which appeared to have been sent by a partner company.

The email included an invoice requesting payment of services. The company proceeded with a payment of €13,030 to a bank account based in a European country, which the email requested.

After contacting the partner company, it was found that the email was sent by a third party, believed to be scammers who had illegally obtained access to the email account of the complaining company.

Police urge the public to exercise caution before making any online payments and to verify payment requests directly with the intended recipient.

It is recommended to use a phone number previously used for contact between the parties or one confirmed through prior message exchanges related to transactions.

Company owners or managers are urged to inform the staff about this specific form of fraud and to implement verification procedures for payment requests they receive.