Police say an employee paid invoices totalling $236,000 that were later determined to have come from a compromised email account.

Police say that employees at businesses have received an email that appears to originate from the CEO of their company asking to purchase prepaid gift cards and then send them the numbers.

Hamilton Police fraud investigators are reporting a rise in local businesses becoming victims of what is commonly known as the 'Business Email Compromise' or 'CEO Scam.'