The FBI Updates Their Numbers And BEC Is Now A 26 Billion Dollar Scam

Sep 10, 2019 1:32:55 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says that Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams —aka CEO Fraud—are continuing to grow every year, with a 100% increase in the identified global ...

CEO Fraud Overtakes Ransomware And Data Breaches In EMEA Cyber-insurance Claims

Sep 3, 2019 7:13:29 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

CEO Fraud—also known as Business Email Compromise—related cyber-insurance claims accounted for nearly a quarter of all claims in the EMEA region, AIG said.

Gift Cards Are Now the #1 Business Email Compromise Cash-Out Mechanism for Fraudsters

Aug 20, 2019 5:03:24 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Overtaking wire transfers and payroll diversion, gift cards have taken a material lead as one of the easiest and least recoverable ways to cash out of a fraud scam.

Blank Emails Come Before BEC Fraud Attack

Aug 19, 2019 4:59:03 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Business email compromise (or CEO fraud) has its reconnaissance phase, too. Researchers at Agari say they’ve found that blank, unsolicited emails are often an early sign that a BEC gang ...

Business Email Compromise Doubles in Incidents and Triples in Cost

Aug 9, 2019 5:54:07 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

The latest data from the U.S. government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shows fraud via business email is changing tactics and becoming more effective.

CEO Fraud hits B.C. lawyers for $2 million

Aug 9, 2019 3:12:16 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Two B.C. law firms were targets of so-called social engineering frauds causing almost $2 million in real estate and investment funds to be wired to people other than clients the firms ...

Pleading Guilty to Business Email Compromise

Aug 7, 2019 9:47:49 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Amil Hassan Raage has taken a guilty plea to charges of fraud in a business email compromise (aka CEO fraud) case that netted him and his criminal co-conspirators almost three-quarters of ...

Freight Forwarding Email Scams are Business Killers

Aug 1, 2019 7:13:06 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has warned that multiple Australian IT suppliers have permanently closed their doors after falling victim to procurement scams, CRN reports. ...

CEO Fraud Phishing Scams Versus The U.K. Solicitors

Jul 31, 2019 10:56:48 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned of another email scam that impersonated a real law firm in order to hijack a real estate transaction, according to Martin Parrin ...

BEC = “Because it’s Easy Cash” Scammers Trick Employees Into Giving Away Customer Info

Jul 25, 2019 10:51:29 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Business Email Compromise—also known as CEO Fraud—scammers are now targeting a company's customers using a new indirect attack method designed to collect information on future scam ...

Whoa Nellie. BEC Scams Average USD 300 Million Per Month In Illegal Transfers

Jul 18, 2019 11:04:26 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data compiled by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shows that illegal transactions linked to business email compromise (BEC)—aka CEO Fraud— scams averaged $300 million ...

Impersonation Phishing Attacks Up 67% in Last 12 Months

May 31, 2019 8:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Social engineering attacks using impersonation tactics increased by 67% over the past twelve months, according to Mimecast’s annual State of Email Security report. Mimecast surveyed more ...

BEC Scams are a Growing Threat to Retailers

Apr 29, 2019 9:26:47 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Cybercriminals are improving their social engineering skills to target online retailers with sophisticated business email compromise (BEC) scams, according to Rafael Lourenco at ...

Business Email Compromise Doubled in 2018, Topping the FBI’s List of Internet Crimes

Apr 29, 2019 6:49:41 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Despite the massive uptick in just about every cybercrime category, good old-fashioned fraud via email phishing and social engineering dominate as the threat to be most concerned about.

Scott County Schools victim of $3.7 million CEO Fraud Phishing Scam

Apr 25, 2019 7:02:35 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WKYT) - Scott County Schools has announced the district is a victim of a multi-million dollar online CEO fraud scam.

Ottawa City Treasurer sends $128,000 to fraudsters in email phishing scam

Apr 10, 2019 7:05:29 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The treasurer of the city of Ottawa, Marian Simulik, fell for a business email compromise (BEC) scam and sent $100,000 to a scammer, the city’s auditor general revealed this week. Simulik ...

BEC Scammers Stole $170,000 From Two Defense Contractors and a University

Mar 20, 2019 8:36:33 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Two defense contractors and a university lost approximately $170,000 from business email compromise (BEC) scams last year, according to an FBI advisory obtained by CyberScoop. The ...

Ins and Outs of Impersonation...and Kidnapping

Mar 5, 2019 3:18:19 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Impersonation attacks and business email compromise (aka CEO fraud) can lead to far more dangerous consequences than monetary losses, according to Matt Devost from OODA LLC. Devost ...

Friday Afternoon, Monday Morning, and Law Firm Risk

Feb 28, 2019 6:54:41 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Law firm employees appear to be getting better at avoiding real estate scams, says Toni Ryder-McMullin at Today’s Conveyancer. Conveyance is the act of transferring an ownership interest ...