Scam Watch

How can you recognize Business Email Compromise — CEO wire transfer fraud?

TLDR

Threat actor spoofs or compromises the CEO/CFO email, emails accounts payable mid afternoon Friday requesting an urgent wire to a 'new vendor' or 'confidential acquisition'. FBI IC3 logged $2.77 billion BEC losses in 2024. Indicators:...

How it works

Threat actor spoofs or compromises the CEO/CFO email, emails accounts payable mid afternoon Friday requesting an urgent wire to a 'new vendor' or 'confidential acquisition'. FBI IC3 logged $2.77 billion BEC losses in 2024. Indicators:...

Red flags

  • Urgent pressure to click, pay, or share codes immediately.
  • A link or sender that does not match the official organization.
  • Requests for card data, passwords, OTPs, wallet signatures, or bank transfers.

What to do

  1. 1WHAT TO DO: enforce dual channel callback to a known phone number before any wire, block lookalike domains, require dual approval on wires over $10K.

Source

FBI-IC3

Source reviewed by Mythos Forensic Team

https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2024/PSA240219

FAQ

Is Business Email Compromise — CEO wire transfer fraud a real scam pattern?

Yes. Treat the message, call, or payment request as suspicious until you verify it through an official channel.

What are the first warning signs?

Urgent pressure to click, pay, or share codes immediately.; A link or sender that does not match the official organization.; Requests for card data, passwords, OTPs, wallet signatures, or bank transfers.

What should I do first?

WHAT TO DO: enforce dual channel callback to a known phone number before any wire, block lookalike domains, require dual approval on wires over $10K.

Can LegalAudit check my case?

Yes. Start a free chat and paste the message, link, sender, or payment details for triage.