FBI: Businesses Lost $215M to Email Scams
Summary: According to an FBI alert cited by Krebs on Security, cyber thieves stole nearly $215 million from businesses over 14 months through business email compromise scams that begin with hijacked executive or employee email accounts. The IC3 says fraudsters study their targets in advance, send well-worded wire transfer requests that often coincide with executives' travel dates, and in some cases send the request directly to the financial institution.
Bottom line: The FBI notes the fraudulent requests are specific to the business and do not raise suspicion, so the $215 million came from employees who had no obvious reason to question the instruction. The advisory's own countermeasure is a second channel - two-factor authentication or a phone call - to verify significant transactions before funds move.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Phishing & Social Engineering
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