PHOENIX—FBI officials are reporting a dramatic rise in the business email compromise scam or “B.E.C.,” a scheme that targets businesses and has resulted in massive financial losses in Phoenix and other cities.
The schemers go to great lengths to spoof company email or use social engineering to assume the identity of the CEO, a company attorney, or trusted vendor. They research employees who manage money and use language specific to the company they are targeting, then they request a wire fraud transfer using dollar amounts that lend legitimacy, the FBI stated.
CUToday.info recently profiled a similar warning-as well as successful attempts at hacking credit unions using social engineering, here.
Since January 2015, the FBI said it has seen a 270% increase in identified victims and exposed loss.
There are various versions of the scams. Victims range from large corporations to tech companies to small businesses to non-profit organizations, the Bureau stated. Many times, the fraud targets businesses that work with foreign suppliers or regularly perform wire transfer payments.
The FBI noted:
- Law enforcement globally has received complaints from victims in every U.S. state and in at least 79 countries.
- From October 2013 through February 2016, law enforcement received reports from 17,642 victims.
- This amounted to more than $2.3 billion in losses.
- In Arizona the average loss per scam is between $25,000 and $75,000.