The next time you’re falling short on rent money, perhaps you should look into the route that one wire-fraud expert took. Alleged wire fraudster Andy Surface sent Conde Nast one email, that appeared to have been sent by the conglomerate’s printer.

In early November, Conde Nast received an “Electronic Payment Authorization” form via email at its New York offices. The form was sent by Quad/Graphics, and requested that Conde Nast direct payments for Quad Graphics to the “Quad Graph Account, and provided account information.

Conde Nast filled out the form and returned it. That scammer was made $8 million richer by a mistake on Conde Nast’s part. Unfortunately for him, however, he was unable to withdraw any funds from the account before federal authorities intervened and froze the money. A Conde Nast spokeswoman said the company would not comment on a pending investigation.

Conde Nast is home to Wired magazine, as well as Vogue, The New Yorker, Glamour, GQ, and more.

The lawsuit was filed on March 30, as the company is trying to get that $8 million back. The filing seeks the funds for forfeiture on grounds that they are the proceeds from wire fraud and money laundering crimes.

Conde Nast wired the $8 million between November 17 and December 30, 2010, and only noticed the error when the company’s real printer began asking about outstanding bills, at which point Conde Nast took a second look at the situation.

Surface has yet to be charged with any crime relating to the scam.

Tags: conde nast, scam
Categories: Crazy News