A practice manager was duped by a scam email into paying a doctor’s Medicare income into a criminal’s account.

In a case being shared as a warning to other clinics, the practice manager received an email which looked as though it had been sent by one of the clinic’s doctors detailing her new bank account details.

“The email appeared to come from the doctor’s primary email address and stated the doctor had closed her bank account and provided her new account details for future payments,” Avant, the medical defence organisation, reported last week.

“Thinking the request was legitimate, the practice manager dutifully updated the doctor’s bank account details, allowing the doctor’s Medicare payments to be paid into the criminal’s bank account.”