BEC Attacks to Exceed $9B in 2018: Trend Micro

guest · Jun 22, 2020

Business email compromise scams cost Australians $132 million
June 23, 2020
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/business-email-compromise-scams-cost-australians-132-million

Business email compromise scams caused the highest losses across all scam types in 2019 costing businesses $132 million, according to the ACCC’s Targeting Scams report.

“These combined losses from the ACCC, other government agencies and the big four banks show how financially harmful these scams can be,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
Scamwatch alone received almost 6,000 reports from businesses last year with $5.3 million in reported losses. False billing was the most commonly reported type of scam which includes business email compromise scams.

“Scammers are increasingly using email scams to target businesses of all sizes. It is important to have strong processes in place for verifying and paying accounts and businesses should ensure their systems have up-to-date anti-virus software,” Mr Keogh said.
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guest · Jul 4, 2020

200% increase in invoice and payment fraud BEC attacks
June 30, 2020
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/06/30/payment-fraud-bec-attacks/

There has been a 200 percent increase in BEC attacks focused on invoice or payment fraud from April to May 2020, according to Abnormal Security. This sharp rise continues the trend.
Larger dollar amounts are involved
During invoice and payment fraud BEC attacks, attackers pose as vendors, suppliers or customers [...]
These types of attacks typically involve much larger dollar amounts compared to other types of BEC attacks since they target business to business transactions.

In one example, the Abnormal Security team detected and stopped an attempted invoice fraud targeting a telecommunications provider, preventing more than $700,000 in losses.
Increasing number of attacks
An increasing number of these attacks were tracked, both in the number of organizations targeted and the number of attacks received per organization.
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Abnormal Security: Invoice & Payment Fraud BEC Attacks Are On The Rise

guest · Jul 7, 2020

'Keeper' hacking group behind hacks at 570 online stores
July 7, 2020
https://www.zdnet.com/article/keeper-hacking-group-behind-hacks-at-570-online-stores/

A hacking group known as "Keeper" is responsible for security breaches at more than 570 online e-commerce portals over the last three years.

The Keeper gang broke into online store backends, altered their source code, and inserted malicious scripts that logged payment card details entered by shoppers in checkout forms.
These types of attacks are what the cyber-security community calls web skimming, e-skimming, or "Magecart" intrusions (named so after the first hacker group that used these tactics).
KEEPER GANG HAS BEEN ACTIVE SINCE APRIL 2017
In a report published today by threat intelligence firm Gemini Advisory, the company says that Keeper has been operating since at least April 2017, and continues to operate even today.

Gemini said that almost 85% of the 570 hacked stores ran on top of the Magento e-commerce platform. Most of the stores were small to medium-sized operations.
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Gemini: “Keeper” Magecart Group Infects 570 Sites

Gemini uncovered an unsecured access log on the Keeper control panel with 184,000 compromised cards with time stamps ranging from July 2018 to April 2019.
The Keeper Magecart group has been active for three years, over which time it has continually improved its technical sophistication and the scale of its operations.
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Minimalist · Jul 13, 2020

A ‘New Age’ of Sophisticated Business Email Compromise is Coming

A new BEC threat group is heralding more sophisticated email scams that target organizations without DMARC and squeeze as much money out of victims as possible.
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https://threatpost.com/a-new-age-of-sophisticated-business-email-compromise-is-coming/

guest · Jul 24, 2020

BigLaw firm sued over $3M wire transfer to fraudster's account
July 23, 2020
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/biglaw-firm-sued-over-wire-transfer-to-fraudsters-account

Updated: Holland & Knight is facing a lawsuit alleging that it failed to prevent the transfer of more than $3 million to a fraudster’s account in Hong Kong.

The lawsuit, filed in June in Utah state court, was removed to federal court this week, the American Lawyer reports.
Holland & Knight is accused of failing to investigate after the fraudster intercepted emails regarding a stock sale, posed as the seller, and instructed the law firm to wire $3.1 million from the stock buyer to another account.

Holland & Knight sent an email addressed to the stock sellers seeking to verify the new account. But it was intercepted by the fraudster and never received by the sellers, the suit says.
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guest · Aug 11, 2020

6,600 organizations bombarded with 100,000+ BEC attacks
August 10, 2020
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/08/10/6600-organizations-bombarded-with-100000-bec-attacks/

Cybercriminals are increasingly registering accounts with legitimate services, such as Gmail and AOL, to use them in impersonation and BEC attacks, according to Barracuda Networks.
BEC attacks impact thousands of organizations
In their most recent threat spotlight report, Barracuda researchers observed that 6,170 malicious accounts that have used Gmail, AOL and other email services, have been responsible for over 100,000 BEC attacks which have impacted nearly 6,600 organizations. What’s more, since April 1, these ‘malicious accounts’ have been behind 45% of all BEC attacks detected.

Essentially, cybercriminals are using malicious accounts to impersonate an employee or trusted partner, and send highly personalized messages for the purpose of tricking other employees into leaking sensitive information, or sending over money.
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Barracuda: Threat Spotlight: Malicious accounts in business email compromise

Beware of cybercriminals who create accounts with legitimate email services and use them to launch impersonation and business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
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guest · Aug 12, 2020

BEC Scam Costs Trading Firm Virtu Financial $6.9 Million
Company Sues Its Insurer for Failure to Pay for Damages
August 11, 2020
https://www.inforisktoday.com/bec-scam-costs-trading-firm-virtu-financial-69-million-a-14804

High-speed trading firm Virtu Financial says it lost $6.9 million in a business email compromise scam in May. The company is now suing its insurer for failure to cover the loss, according to legal documents filed in the case.

In its court filing, Virtu Financial reports that an executive's email account was illegally accessed and used to send fraudulent emails to the company's accounting department, resulting in two wire transfers to a bank in China.
The company is suing its insurance carrier, Axis Insurance, for not covering the loss, claiming breach of contract.
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Virtu Financial was able to freeze $3.8 million of the money it wired, but the company does not believe it will be able to recover the remaining $6.9 million, the court documents note.
Virtu claims clauses in its insurance policy support its position that the loss should be covered.

The details on how the attackers gained access to the Virtu Financial executive's email account were not included in the court filing.
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guest · Sep 30, 2020

BEC Attacks Drastically Increased in August, Report Finds
September 30, 2020
https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/bec-attacks-drastically-increased-in-august-report-finds

A new analysis from Abnormal Security revealed that BEC (Business Email Compromise) attacks affected 99 percent of companies in August, a sharp increase from the 70 percent registered at the beginning of the month.

“Historically, the majority of these attacks pretend to be an individual internal to the company, especially VIPs whose authority produces faster responses from employees eager to please,” states the Abnormal Security report. “This trend held in August, with 71% of BEC attacks impersonating internal entities, 57% of which were company VIPs.“
“The number of BEC campaigns received per mailbox also jumped, with the weekly average rising 81% over July,” the report also states.

Business email compromise is here to stay and the best defense against is an educated workforce that can spot such attempts and stop them before they get a foothold in the organization.
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Abnormal Security: Business Email Compromise Attacks Increasingly Widespread in August

guest · Oct 1, 2020

Experts Warn of $15m Global BEC Campaign
October 1, 2020
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/experts-warn-of-15-million-global/

Security experts have discovered a major new Business Email Compromise (BEC) campaign that has already stolen over $15 million from a possible 150 organizations.

Israeli incident response specialist Mitiga was first called in after a multimillion-dollar transaction went awry, according to head of research, Andrey Shomer.
It appears that a cyber-criminal was monitoring email communications between a corporate buyer and seller, and at the last minute, stepped in to impersonate the seller, sending over new wire payment instructions.

“All the malicious domains utilized in this BEC attack were registered through a GoDaddy-owned domain registrar called Wild West Domains.”
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They achieved an initial foothold into a victim organization by sending phishing emails to senior executives. Once an account was hijacked, they would set up a forwarding rule to automatically send any emails to their own accounts.

“This provided the threat actor with full visibility of the transaction and allowed for the introduction of the fake domain at just the right moment, i.e., when the wire transfer details were provided,” said Shomer.
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Mitiga is Cooperating with Law Enforcement on a Global Business Email Compromise (BEC) Campaign that Has Netted Over $15M

Mitiga has uncovered a widespread and well-executed Business Email Compromise (BEC) campaign in which cybercriminals are impersonating senior executives using Office 365’s email services in order to intercept sensitive communications and then alter wire transfer details and redirect funds to rogue bank accounts.
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guest · Oct 13, 2020

25% of BEC Cybercriminals Based in the US
October 13, 2020
https://www.darkreading.com/threat-...cybercriminals-based-in-the-us/d/d-id/1339168

A new analysis of business email compromise (BEC) attacks reveals the global footprint of BEC activity: Twenty-five percent of perpetrators behind these threats are located in the United States. Of these attackers, nearly half are based in five states: California, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and New York.

The Agari Cyber Intelligence Division (ACID) today published the results of a study to better understand the operations of BEC attacks – in particular, the location of attackers and the money mules responsible for laundering their proceeds. While Nigeria has been a hot spot for social engineering scams, researchers found only half of attacks came from the West African country.
Their report contains information from more than 9,000 defense engagements between May 2019 and July 2020.
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Based on these engagements, researchers identified BEC attackers in more than 50 different countries. Sixty percent of the attackers were based in 11 African countries; of these, 83% were based in Nigeria. South Africa was home to 14% of Africa-based attackers and the third-largest base for BEC groups worldwide.
Nearly 30% of global attackers were based in the Americas. Of these, 89% call the US home.

"The part about the US took us by surprise," says Crane Hassold, senior director of threat research at Agari. After removing instances in which attackers were using proxies and other anonymization sources, researchers assumed the percentage of US-based attacks would drop.
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Agari: Threat Intelligence Brief: The Geography of BEC

guest · Oct 29, 2020

Email compromise attacks are on the increase as tactics shift
October 29, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/10/29/email-compromise-attacks-increase/

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks have increased in six out of eight industries according to a new report from Abnormal Security.

The overall volume of BEC attacks increased 15 percent from Q2 to Q3, but the energy industry experienced a massive 93 percent rise.
Meanwhile the retail/consumer goods and manufacturing sector has seen a trend of decreasing social engineering BEC attacks and increasing invoice and payment fraud BEC attacks.

Across all industries, the average weekly rate of social engineering BEC campaigns, which impersonate an internal party, dropped by 38 percent, while the rate of campaigns impersonating an external partner increased by 21 percent.
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guest · Dec 1, 2020

FBI warns of BEC scammers using email auto-forwarding in attacks
December 1, 2020
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...mmers-using-email-auto-forwarding-in-attacks/

The FBI is warning US companies about scammers actively abusing auto-forwarding rules on web-based email clients to increase the likelihood of successful Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.

This warning was issued through a joint Private Industry Notification (PIN) sent on November 25 and coordinated with DHS-CISA.
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Medical and manufacturing organizations targeted
The PIN, labeled "TLP: WHITE," provides details on how fraudsters successfully compromised business in BEC scams and about how auto-forwarding email rules are being used to collect information and limit the victims' capability to detect the fraudulent activity.

BEC scammers used email rules added to the target' web-based email clients to hide their activity while impersonating employees or business partners.

"According to recent FBI reporting, cybercriminals are implementing auto-forwarding rules on victims’ web-based email clients to conceal their activities," the FBI said.
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guest · Dec 3, 2020

Philly Food Bank Loses $1m in BEC Scam
December 3, 2020
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/philly-food-bank-loses-1-million/

A Philadelphia food bank has been scammed out of nearly $1m following a classic business email compromise (BEC) attack, it has emerged.

Earlier this year, it was in the process of completing a new $12m community kitchen, which is when it was sent an invoice by what managers thought was a construction company supplier.
However, the email was in fact spoofed by attackers and the $923,533 was lost, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. To make matters worse, the firm then had to find the same amount to pay the legitimate supplier.

It appears as if the non-profit was hit by a classic BEC scam, where attackers compromise an employee’s email account and then silently monitor messages sent back and forth.
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“BEC scams cleverly play on two glaring human vulnerabilities: an employee’s susceptibility to social engineering, and their unquestioning trust in the chain of command. The best way to help prevent these types of attacks is to provide regular security training for employees, and establish specific business and financial policies for company payments.”
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Minimalist · Jun 9, 2021

FBI warns of BEC scammers impersonating construction companies

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned private sector companies of scammers impersonating construction companies in business email compromise (BEC) attacks targeting organizations from multiple US critical infrastructure sectors.
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https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...cammers-impersonating-construction-companies/

Minimalist · Jun 22, 2021

BEC Losses Top $1.8B as Tactics Evolve

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks ramped up significantly in 2020, with more than $1.8 billion stolen from organizations with these types of attacks last year alone — and things are getting worse.
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https://threatpost.com/bec-losses-top-18b/167148/

guest · Jun 23, 2021

How a Business Email Compromise attack can threaten your organization
June 22, 2021
https://www.techrepublic.com/articl...romise-attack-can-threaten-your-organization/

Email is one of the most popular tools exploited by cybercriminals to launch attacks against organizations. It's quick and simple and it relies on social engineering to trick the recipient into falling for whatever scam is in play. One particular tactic favored by criminals is the Business Email Compromise (BEC) in which the scammer spoofs a trusted contact to defraud a company out of money.

Released on Tuesday, "The 2021 Business Email Compromise Report" from security provider GreatHorn looks at the latest in BEC campaigns. Based on a May 2021 online survey of 270 IT and cybersecurity pros in the U.S., the report reveals some of the trends, challenges and gaps involved in fighting BEC attacks and related email threats.
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Asked about the most common types of BEC attacks they've seen, 71% of the respondents pointed to those that spoof email accounts or websites. Some 69% cited spear phishing in which specific people or roles in an organization are targeted. And 24% mentioned malware, specifically emails that contain malicious files or other content.

Drilling down, almost half of all the BEC attacks witnessed by those surveyed spoofed an individual's identity in the displayed name.
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guest · Jul 19, 2021

Microsoft Cracks Down on Malicious Homoglyph Domains
July 19, 2021
https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-cracks-down-malicious-homoglyph-domains

Leveraging similarities between alpha-numeric characters, cybercriminals register homoglyph domains that closely resemble those of legitimate businesses, but are instead under the control of the unauthorized parties.

The technique is often used in business email compromise (BEC) attacks, but is also employed by nation-state adversaries and in malware and ransomware distribution campaigns, for network compromise, combined with credential phishing and account compromise.
Microsoft believes that the financially motivated hackers might be part of an extensive network based out of West Africa.
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The attackers leveraged the fraudulent domains and stolen credentials to unlawfully access and monitor accounts, gather intelligence, and impersonate Microsoft customers to trick victims into sending money to them.

“Once the criminals gained access to a network, they imitated customer employees and targeted their trusted networks, vendors, contractors and agents in an effort to deceive them into sending or approving fraudulent financial payments,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
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guest · Jul 29, 2021

Best Practices to Thwart Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks
July 29, 2021
https://thehackernews.com/2021/07/best-practices-to-thwart-business-email_29.html

Business email compromise (BEC) refers to all types of email attacks that do not have payloads. Although there are numerous types, there are essentially two main mechanisms through which attackers penetrate organizations utilizing BEC techniques, spoofing and account take-over attacks.

In a recent study, 71% of organizations acknowledged they had seen a business email compromise (BEC) attack during the past year. Forty-three percent of organizations experienced a security incident in the last 12 months, with 35% stating that BEC/phishing attacks account for more than 50% of the incidents.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that BEC scams were the most expensive of cyberattacks in 2020, with 19,369 complaints and adjusted losses of approximately $1.8 billion.
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To thwart a BEC attack, an organization must focus on the Golden Triangle: the alignment of people, process, and technology. Read on to discover best practices every organization should follow to mitigate BEC attacks.
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guest · Jul 29, 2021

FBI Media Alert: FBI Alerts New Mexicans to Be on Lookout for Business Email Compromise Scams
July 28, 2021
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/fiel...-lookout-for-business-e-mail-compromise-scams

The FBI is alerting New Mexico businesses, school districts, and government agencies to be on the lookout for business email compromise (BEC) scams, which so far have cost more than $1 million in the state.

A New Mexico county recently lost approximately $500,000 in a BEC fraud, while a small private school system in the state avoided being scammed out of more than $55,000 through quick action by employees.
So far in 2021 (January to June), 29 BEC incidents were reported in New Mexico with a loss of $1,025,317.
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In a typical business email compromise (BEC) scheme, the victim receives an email they believe is from a company they normally conduct business with, but this specific email requests funds be sent to a new account or otherwise alters the standard payment practices.

“Businesses, government agencies, and schools have been through a difficult year, and many are still trying to get back on their feet,” said Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the Albuquerque FBI Division. “They need to be aware that cyber criminals won't give them a break. The FBI and our partners urge communities to be vigilant and educate themselves about online scams like BEC.”
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guest · Aug 25, 2021

Scammers steal $2.3 million from small US town
August 25, 2021
https://therecord.media/scammers-steal-2-3-million-from-small-us-town/

The Town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, said it lost $2.3 million after scammers tricked town employees into sending large payments to the wrong accounts.

Town officials said they first learned of the losses on July 26 after the ConVal School District said it did not receive its $1.2 million monthly transfer.
An investigation into the lost payment revealed that scammers used spoofed email accounts and forged documents to redirect the town’s payment to accounts under their control.
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US Secret Service officials, who were called in to investigate the incident, told Peterborough officials that the stolen funds had been laundered and converted to cryptocurrency.

“We do not believe that the funds can be recovered by reversing the transactions, and we do not yet know if these losses will be covered by insurance,” Select Board Chairman Tyler Ward and Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said in a press release on Monday.
The $2.3 million loss represents almost 15% of the town’s yearly budget.

This type of attack is typically known as a “BEC scam” or “BEC fraud.”
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guest · Dec 23, 2021

BEC Attack on Monongalia Health System
December 22, 2021

A three-hospital health system in West Virginia has become the victim of a business email compromise (BEC) scam that began with a phishing attack.

Monongalia Health System, Inc. (MHS) had no idea that its cybersecurity defenses had been penetrated until a vendor reported not receiving a payment from the healthcare provider on July 28 2021.
An investigation was launched, which determined that threat actors had compromised several email accounts belonging to MHS employees between May 10, 2021, and August 15, 2021, gaining unauthorized access to emails and attachments.
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MHS has begun mailing notice letters to patients whose information may have been involved in the security incident.

“From a technology perspective, implementing verification of domains and senders’ email addresses, while not widely used, is a quick fix to authenticate domains and emails to reduce the risk of an attack by a ‘doppelganger domain,’” commented KnowBe4’s security awareness advocate, James McQuiggan.
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ronjor · May 9, 2022

FBI: $43 billion in losses are due to Business Email Compromise fraud between 2016 and 2021

by Cedric Pernet May 9, 2022
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released an alert that said there has been a 65% increase in identified global exposed losses from Business Email Compromise fraud, also known as Email Account Compromise. This huge increase can partly be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as restrictions caused more workspaces and individuals to conduct routine business virtually.
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hawki · Jul 28, 2022

"European Police Arrest 100 Suspects in BEC Crackdown...

European police have released details of two major operations against business email compromise (BEC) fraudsters, which resulted in the arrest of close to 100 suspects.

Operation Wine Cellar and Operation Theatre were carried out in November 2021 but are only now being made public due to operational reasons, Europol said..."

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/european-police-100-suspects-bec/

ronjor · Apr 15, 2023

US extradites Nigerian charged in $6m email fraud scam

Jessica Lyons Hardcastle 14 Apr 2023
BEC continues to be billon-dollar business for cybercrooks — and a top priority for law enforcement. In 2022 alone, the FBI received 21,832 BEC complaints with adjusted losses over $2.7 billion
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