The FBI's Washington Field Office issued a warning about business email compromise scams, also known as email account compromise.
Business email compromise is one of the most financially damaging online crimes. It exploits the fact that so many of us rely on email to conduct business, both personal and professional.
In a BEC scam, criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known company or person, making a real request, but in reality, it’s a criminal trying to steal your financial and personal information. Criminals create email addresses that can look like a vendor your company uses, or a CEO asking you to purchase something, or even a title company with wire payment instructions.
These scams happen all the time to real people. The emails are fake, and victims and companies can lose thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
To ensure you do not fall victim, do not click links in unsolicited emails or texts; carefully verify email addresses and URLs; and confirm and verify payment information on the phone, instead of through email, with a person or company. Report BEC scams to the FBI at IC3.gov, this information will help investigate these criminals.
