Fake Supplier Emails Cost a Braga Company 139,812 Euros, Prosecutors Say, and Two People Now Face Money Laundering Charges

Somebody broke into the email accounts of a company based in Braga, intercepted its messages, and sent it fake emails made to look like they came from its own suppliers. The emails gave new bank account numbers. The company paid, and 139,812.50 euros went to accounts controlled by other people.

That is the case set out by prosecutors in Porto, who have charged two people with money laundering. The Ministério Público (Public Prosecution Service) published a summary of the indictment on 25 September. The charge was brought by an order of 3 September, in an inquiry run by the regional department for investigation and prosecution (DIAP Regional) in Porto. Its case number shows the file was opened in 2019.

How the fraud worked, according to the indictment

Prosecutors describe it as "Business Email Compromise", a fraud in which criminals take over or imitate a company's email.

• The break-in. Unknown people "intercepted and illegitimately accessed" the email accounts of the Braga company.
• The fake emails. They created false emails "with the appearance of the emails" of the company's suppliers, giving new IBANs (international bank account numbers).
• The diversion. Payments the company made in the normal course of business went to those accounts instead. They included accounts controlled by the two defendants and one belonging to a company that one of them used for the purpose.
• The laundering. The defendants are accused of moving the money on through a series of transfers to other accounts and cash withdrawals.

The people who broke into the email accounts are described only as "unknown". The two defendants are charged with laundering the proceeds, not with the break-in itself. Prosecutors did not name them or the company.

A fake bank employee and a borrowed card

The indictment also describes a second victim. To move the money, one defendant, working through another suspect who has not been identified, persuaded a woman to hand over her bank card and its PIN. The accomplice did it by posing as a bank employee. Her account was then used to pass through several sums.

The sums

Prosecutors say one defendant dissipated 115,712.50 euros, from four initial transfers, and the other 24,100 euros, from a single transfer. Together that is 139,812.50 euros lost by the Braga company.

The Ministério Público has asked the court to declare both sums forfeit to the state and to seize the balance of a bank account held by a company controlled by one of the defendants. Those are requests; a court has not ruled on them, and both defendants are presumed innocent. No trial date has been published.

Why a name check now matters when you pay

The trick at the heart of this case, a genuine-looking email carrying someone else's IBAN, is the same one used against tenants and holiday renters. Police have warned about it before in rental fraud cases.

Since 9 October 2025, an EU rule has given everyone paying by transfer in euros a new defence. Under the Instant Payments Regulation, banks in the euro area, Portugal's included, must check that the name you enter matches the account holder of the IBAN, before you authorise the payment. If the name does not match, the bank must warn you that the money may go to an account not held by the person you meant to pay. If the name almost matches, it must show you the real name on the account. The check is free.

That makes three habits worth keeping:

• Always type the payee's name as it appears on the contract, and read the bank's answer before you confirm.
• If a supplier or landlord writes to say their bank details have changed, phone them on a number you already have, not one in the email.
• Do not hand your card or PIN to anyone who says they work for your bank.

The same impersonation tactics have been turning up elsewhere this month: impostors writing from a real government email domain got Revolut to hand over customer files, and the market regulator has warned that investment scammers now use AI video.