Japan Airlines has confirmed it has been defrauded of JPY384 million yen (USD3.4 million) after it received a series of emails purportedly demanding payment for leasing fees and commissions.

Quoting an airline statement, the Kyodo news agency said it had received emails that appeared to be from a US financial services firm it had been dealing with, requesting payment for JPY360 million into a Hong Kong bank account. The event took place in September this year and was only discovered to be fraudulent after the US firm demanded payment in October.

The carrier said that in August this year, it had received another e-mail this time requesting payment for approximately JPY24 million yen in commissions to be paid into another Hong Kong bank account. This email was disguised as being from a US logistics company to which JAL had outsourced the shipment of international cargo.

JAL said it has since reported the cases to the Japanese police. It is also considering reprimanding relevant officials for failing to sufficiently verify the e-mails.