Internet fraudsters have tricked Italian club Lazio out of €2 million ($2.4million) meant for the final settlement of the transfer fee for defender Stefan de Vrij, whom they signed from Dutch side, Feyenoord.
According to Italian paper Il Tempo, the club had received an email purportedly from de Vrij’s former club asking for the final payment for the player.
Unknown to Lazio, the email had originated from hackers who got knowledge of the deal and provided a wrong account number in the Netherlands.
The club wired the money which Feyenoord said they never received.
The Dutch side also said it had no knowledge of the email requesting the payment.
The prosecutor investigating the case said the funds had been discovered in a Dutch bank account that does not belong to Feyenoord.
De Vrij signed for Lazio from Feyenoord for €7.7 million in 2014 and is set to leave for Inter Milan on a free transfer this summer