Slovak Shoe Company Loses 20,000 Euros in Email Scam Involving Single Letter Typo

A Bratislava-based shoe and clothing retailer called Shooos fell victim to a sophisticated email fraud that cost the company exactly 20,000 euros. In December 2025, employees at the company were communicating with what they believed was their supplier Birkenstock, but the emails were actually coming from a fraudster using the domain "birkenstork.com" instead of the legitimate "birkenstock.com." The scam succeeded because of this single letter difference that went unnoticed by company staff. This case follows another recent telephone fraud in Slovakia where a victim lost 25,000 euros during a six-hour scam call, highlighting the growing sophistication of fraud schemes targeting Slovak businesses and individuals.