Security News > 2021 > September > BEC Scammers Seek Native English Speakers on Underground

"The BEC footprint on underground forums is not as large as other types of cybercrime, likely since many of the operational elements of BEC use targeted social-engineering tactics and fraudulent domains, which do not typically require technical services or products that the underground offers," according to Intel 471.

In February, Intel 471 came across a threat actor on a popular Russian-language cybercrime forum who was seeking a team of native English speakers for the social engineering elements of BEC attacks, after obtaining access to custom Microsoft Office 365 domains.

Fluent, native English speakers are in demand because the North American and European markets are the primary targets for BEC scams, according to Intel 471.

Speaking of Nigeria-based scams, the recent increase in pitches for BEC help posted on cybercrime forums has, as recently as two months ago, stirred up some actors who've been active in the past with BEC scams, researchers reported.

"Multiple posts made by the actor on several cybercrime forums were asking for help in obtaining email database access and credentials from Italy and the U.S., which suggests the actor was in the reconnaissance stage of planning BEC attacks," Intel 471 reported.

Cybercriminals are also looking on the underground for help in laundering the money stolen via BEC schemes.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/bec-scammers-native-english-speakers/169092/