How a BEC scam cost a company $60 million – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Business email compromise (BEC) has once again proven to be a costly issue, with a company losing $60 million in a wire transfer fraud scheme

Editor

16 Aug 2024

A Luxembourg-based chemicals and manufacturing company has recently suffered one of the largest-ever business email compromise (BEC) attacks.

According to a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), an employee was tricked into making multiple wire transfers to cybercriminals, losing the company $60 million.

BEC scams often work as social engineering schemes, in which criminals usually impersonate high-level executives, asking employees with access to the organization’s funds to transfer money for a business-related purpose.

As per the FBI’s Internet Crime Report 2023, BEC is seen as the second most damaging type of cybercrime, amounting to a collective $2.9 billion in losses.

Watch as Tony discusses the implications of such schemes in our newest video.