Dangerous increase in bad, effective emails

Cyber criminals are sending more sophisticated phishing emails, crafting them to appear very real, not full of typos and bad formatting. They are targeting businesses with Business Email Compromise (BEC) messages that trigger a sense of urgency. In 2024, BEC increased 29%.

The thieves use a variety of techniques to trigger a response that leads to a financial rip-off:

• Purchase scam - An urgent request to purchase an item needed right away

• Renewal scam - Threatens immediate cut-off of a vital service

• Funds transfer scam - A time-sensitive request to transfer money to a firm bank account

• Fake invoice - Request for a payment of a routine invoice

• Gift card scam - "Partner's" request for cards as gifts to employees

Business Email Compromise messages may be sent after hours or on weekends when the recipient is less likely to disturb the apparent sender for confirmation.

Funds transfer scams can be especially damaging. They may involve a request for a wire transfer need as part of a settlement or business deal. People at all levels within organizations have been deceived by these scams.

Cyber criminals can devise especially convincing fake emails using information obtained from cracking into the email accounts of employees. They use specific names of a firm's clients and the correct name of the firm's bank in composing a persuasive message.

Training your co-workers to recognize BEC can reduce the threat. Protective layers or cyber security, such as CrimeBlocker, can block the infected links in BEC emails.