Business Email Compromise Scam Taking a Toll on Businesses

BEC, Business Email Compromise scams are on the rise and they continue to impact businesses. There has been a surge of BEC scams since last week. According to an IBM report, the COVID-19 vaccine supply is being targeted by the increasing number of BEC attacks. 

CNBC report disclosed that a phishing email attack involving the impersonation of a Chinese business is giving temperature-controlled supply chain solutions. The researcher Claire Zaboeva and Melissa Frydrych the purpose of the attacks “may have been to harvest credentials to gain future unauthorized access,” and to gather information with the intentions to get information regarding the vaccine distribution.

Unfortunately, BEC is not the only scams that businesses are facing these days. According to the B2B digest of this week, corporate scams come in many shapes and sizes. Research by Ohio State and Indiana University reports that 23% of financial crimes occur more in urban areas.  According to another report, there is a spillover effect. An increase in corporate fraud leads to an increase in local theft.

According to a local report from Australia, the total amount of scam took $12,600 from a business through a fraudulent receipt. Businesses based in Perth got a legitimate-looking receipt from their partner business. However, the bank’s details were changed on the invoice. The scam was discovered after the invoice was paid. 

Infosecurity Magazine reports that a food bank in Philadelphia lost $923,533 through a BEC scam. Philabundance received a legitimate-looking invoice from the construction supplier during their kitchen renovation. Almost 1 million dollars were paid before they discovered that the bill was a scam sent through a spoofing email. Lucy, CEO of Colin Bastable, gave the statement to the magazine that the incident, “checks all the boxes of a successful BEC scam.”