Security Awareness Training Blog

CEO Fraud Blog

News about the latest CEO fraud attacks. See how the bad guys actually do this and how much money companies lose to this type of scam.

View Topics

Australian Police Arrest Business Email Compromise (BEC) Operators

Mar 29, 2023 8:43:18 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested four alleged members of an organized crime group known for carrying out business email compromise (BEC) attacks, BleepingComputer ...

Continue Reading

The FBI's Public Service Warning of Business Email Compromise

Mar 29, 2023 8:01:52 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The US FBI is warning of business email compromise (BEC) attacks designed to steal physical goods. While BEC attacks are typically associated with stealing money, criminals can use the ...

Continue Reading

Report Shows Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks Increase and Phishing Used as Initial Attack Vector in the Last Year

Mar 20, 2023 10:08:42 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Secureworks has published a report looking at cybercrime over the course of 2022, finding that business email compromise (BEC) attacks nearly doubled last year. Additionally, attacks in ...

Continue Reading

Microsoft Warns of Business Email Compromise Attacks Taking Hours

Mar 13, 2023 1:13:45 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

According to Microsoft's Security Intelligence team, a recent business email compromise attack (BEC) has shown that threat actors are quickening the pace of these attacks, with certain ...

Continue Reading

Executive Impersonation Business Email Compromise Attacks Go Beyond English Worldwide

Mar 6, 2023 9:09:47 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Despite hearing mostly about BEC attacks in English-speaking countries, analysis of new attack groups highlight the threat of these kinds of attacks in other languages.

Continue Reading

Business Email Compromise Gang Gets Jail Time for Stealing Millions

Feb 28, 2023 11:52:14 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

An international cybercriminal operation responsible for millions of dollars in business email compromise (BEC) scams has finally been dismantled.

Continue Reading

28% of Users Open BEC Emails as BEC Attack Volume Skyrockets by 178%

Feb 23, 2023 11:27:44 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data shows users aren’t scrutinizing emails used in business email compromise (BEC) attacks, allowing critical changes in banking details that would impact the victim's organization ...

Continue Reading

Do Not Let Ransomware Steal the Show – Business Email Compromise Is the Biggest Threat You Must Prepare For!

Feb 21, 2023 10:12:12 AM By Javvad Malik

When it comes to cybersecurity, ransomware is the rockstar of threats. But taking a peek behind the curtain, business email compromise (BEC) causes huge financial losses.

Continue Reading

A Special Case of Business Email Compromise

Feb 21, 2023 9:12:41 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Cloudflare warns that business email compromise (BEC) phishing has assumed a new form: vendor email compromise (VEC). The classic BEC case involves the impersonation of someone within an ...

Continue Reading

BEC Group Launches Hundreds of Campaigns

Feb 2, 2023 9:14:15 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A business email compromise (BEC) gang has launched more than 350 attacks against organizations in the US, according to researchers at Abnormal Security. The threat actor, which Abnormal ...

Continue Reading

Now BEC Attacks Steal Physical Goods

Dec 20, 2022 8:49:21 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA OCI), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have released a joint ...

Continue Reading

Scammer Group Uses Business Email Compromise to Impersonate European Investment Portals

Dec 8, 2022 8:58:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A sophisticated scammer group has stolen at least €480 million from victims in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg since 2018, according to researchers at Group-IB. The gang uses a highly ...

Continue Reading

New Business Email Compromise Gang Impersonates Lawyers

Nov 7, 2022 10:23:46 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A criminal gang is launching business email compromise (BEC) attacks by posing as “real attorneys, law firms, and debt recovery services.” The attackers send legitimate-looking invoices ...

Continue Reading

Cybercriminal Gets 25 Years Prison Time Over Romance Scams and Business Email Compromise Attacks

Oct 6, 2022 8:56:35 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A man from Atlanta, Georgia has been convicted of running romance scams and business email compromise attacks that netted him over $9.5 million, the US Justice Department has announced.

Continue Reading

Vendor Impersonation Competing with CEO Fraud

Jun 23, 2022 9:09:21 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Researchers at Abnormal Security have observed an increase in vendor impersonation in business email compromise (BEC) attacks.

Continue Reading

Think BEC Won’t Cost You Much? How Does $130 Million Sound?

May 13, 2022 8:05:12 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A new lawsuit brings to light the all-too common occurrence of an attack, with this occurring during a business acquisition and costing the buyer more than they bargained for.

Continue Reading

Business Email Compromise Shouldn’t Be the Cost of Doing Business

May 9, 2022 9:11:25 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The FBI last week published a public service announcement updating its warnings about the continuing threat of business email compromise (BEC, also called CEO fraud). The problem has ...

Continue Reading

Business Email Compromise (BEC): the Costliest Cybercrime

Apr 12, 2022 8:52:35 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Organizations in the US lost $2.4 billion to business email compromise (BEC) scams (also known as CEO fraud) last year, according to Alan Suderman at Fortune.

Continue Reading

Cost of Internet Crimes in 2021 Increase 64% Exceeding $6.9 Billion

Mar 31, 2022 11:52:17 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) shows a massive increase in the cost of internet crimes, with phishing and BEC topping the list.

Continue Reading

FBI: Scammers Take Business Email Compromise Attacks to Virtual Meeting Platforms

Mar 4, 2022 8:34:12 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

In a new twist on an old scam, BEC attacks switch from email to a virtual meeting where social engineering tactics are used to further establish credibility and increase the likelihood of ...

Continue Reading