Glossary
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
BEC is when scammers pretend to be your boss or a vendor via email and ask you to wire money or share sensitive info. They might hack your CEO's actual email or create a lookalike address like [email protected] instead of [email protected]. These aren't obvious scam emails - they're carefully crafted to look legitimate.
What is Business Email Compromise (BEC)?
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a sophisticated scam where criminals use email to trick employees into transferring money or sensitive information. Attackers either hack into real email accounts or create convincing fake ones that impersonate executives, vendors, or partners.
Why Should You Care?
BEC is the most costly form of cybercrime, causing over $2.7 billion in losses annually in the US alone. Average losses per incident exceed $120,000. Unlike ransomware, there's often no way to recover the money once it's sent. Small and mid-sized businesses are the primary targets because they often lack verification procedures.
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Real-World Example
A real estate agency received an email that appeared to be from their attorney about an upcoming closing. It contained new wire instructions for the $1.2 million property purchase. The email came from a domain almost identical to the law firm's - just one letter different. By the time anyone noticed, the money was gone and unrecoverable. The buyers lost their life savings.
How to Protect Against Business Email Compromise (BEC)
- 1.
Require phone verification for all wire transfer requests
- 2.
Never trust wire instructions sent by email - always call to verify
- 3.
Use known phone numbers, not ones in the suspicious email
- 4.
Implement dual approval for large financial transactions
- 5.
Train employees to verify sender email addresses carefully
- 6.
Enable email authentication (DMARC, DKIM, SPF) for your domain
Related Terms
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