Brian Krebs recently reported that the FBI issued an alert detailing how email scams designed to convince personnel to “initiate unauthorized international wire transfers, has allowed criminals to scam more than 7,000 companies and make off with roughly $750 million from October 2013 and August 2015.
These scams are often known as “CEO fraud,” because thieves either gain access to a CEO’s inbox via a phishing email or by sending an email to employees from a look alike email address. The FBI noted that when international crimes are considered, the costs rise to about $1.2 billion, “a 270 percent increase.” The FBI noted in an alert that, “the scam has been reported in all 50 states and in 79 countries. Fraudulent transfers have been reported going to 72 countries; however, the majority of the transfers are going to Asian banks located within China and Hong Kong.”
Krebs on Security has the whole story.