Security News > 2020 > October > BEC Attacks: Nigeria No Longer the Epicenter as Losses Top $26B

A study of more than 9,000 instances of business email compromise attacks all over the world shows that the number has skyrocketed over the past year, and that the social-engineering scam has expanded well beyond its historic roots in Nigeria.

Researchers found BEC attacks currently make up a full 40 percent of cybercrime losses globally, impacting at least 177 countries.

For context, the Anti-Phishing Working Group recently found that the average wire transfer in a BEC scam is around $80,000.

In a BEC attack, a scammer impersonates a company executive or other trusted party, and tries to trick an employee responsible for payments or other financial transactions into wiring money to a bogus account.

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of any BEC gang scam is the role of "Money mule." These people, either wittingly or unwittingly, do the scammers dirty work for them, like setting up bank accounts and transferring money.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/bec-attacks-nigeria-losses-snowball/160118/