Security News > 2021 > March > Business email compromise scams proved costly to victims in 2020
The FBI received more than 19,000 complaints of business email compromises last year, costing victims around $1.8 billion.
Among the many types of cyber crimes affecting organizations and individuals last year, business email compromises and email account compromises proved especially costly.
Released Wednesday, the FBI's "2020 Internet Crime Report" looks at BEC scams and other internet-related crimes and offers suggestions on what to do if you're a victim.
BEC and EAC scams have since expanded to include such tactics as compromising personal emails or vendor emails, impersonating accounts of attorneys, asking for W-2 information and requesting large amounts of gift cards.
In these instances, the initial victim is usually scammed through other types of tactics, such as extortion plots, romance scams and tech support scams.
"With an adjusted loss of approximately $1.8 billion from only reported BECs, this type of crime presents one of the most significant risks to businesses today. At a minimum, this data should be a reminder for business and security leaders to follow the FBI's guidance should they become victims of BEC. More importantly is to follow cybersecurity best practices and improve employee security training to avoid BEC attacks."