Security News > 2021 > August > New Hampshire town loses $2.3 million to overseas scammers
Image: George Kedenburg III. Peterborough, a small New Hampshire town, has lost $2.3 million after BEC scammers redirected several bank transfers using forged documents sent to the town's Finance Department staff in multiple email exchanges.
BEC scammers use various tactics to compromise or impersonate their targets' business email accounts, allowing them to redirect pending or future payments to bank accounts they control.
Town officials discovered the attack on July 26 when the ConVal School District notified them that they didn't receive a $1.2 million monthly transfer.
"We are now waiting to hear from our coverage provider if these losses will be covered, whether in whole or in part; town administration is exploring all options available and has reached out to our legislative delegation and the Governor's office for support," the town staff added.
In March, the FBI warned of another series of BEC attacks targeting US state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities, with losses ranging from $10,000 up to $4 million.
In previous alerts issued last year, the FBI warned of BEC scammers exploiting email auto-forwarding and cloud email services in their attacks.