Find Out How to Spot a Business Email Compromise (BEC) Fraud

 

Business Email Compromise fraud (BEC fraud) is a group of fast-growing type of scam in Canada that targets businesses. If you own a business, it is best to get acquainted with the tactics that BEC fraudsters use so that you’ll be better equipped to protect yourself moreso that business transactions are moving towards online channels these days. The recent data by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says that the worldwide cost for BEC fraud is estimated at about $5 billion dollars.

Spot Business Email Compromise Fraud

Know that BEC fraud is not a single scheme type of scam. It is composed of several schemes such as supplier phishing, CEO scam, and information theft. Supplier phishing involves fake emails that look like they came from known suppliers. Any money sent to the accounts provided by scammers via supplier phishing won’t go to the actual suppliers. CEO scam involves emails that look like they came from senior executives of the business. The receiver is tricked to wire money to a third party thinking that the order came from higher ups but are really just from scammers. Information theft looks like emails from legitimate entities requesting for sensitive information. Any information shared via these channels can then be used by the fraudsters to commit CEO fraud and supplier phishing.

Protect Your Business from Email Fraud

Protection from email fraud means that the management and employees must work together to learn about having checks and balances or enhanced email safety protocol for the benefit of everyone. Understand that BEC fraud doesn’t discriminate between large and small businesses and the sooner everyone is educated about email fraud tactics, the sooner everyone will be equipped with the knowledge they need to prevent it from happening.

Best practices to prevent Business Email Compromise Fraud include:

Being cautious at all times. Employees must take precautions about the information they share on social media sites as well as other places on the internet. Details such as someone being on vacation can be used by fraudsters to manipulate the situation to their liking.

Educating employees and employers alike. A lot of people still do not know that email addresses can be spoofed these days. As a result, it is easy to fool people to send money over using wire transfer because they think the email truly came from a colleague or from a superior. A tell-tale sign of BEC fraud is an urgent money request via wire transfer.

Learning to verify. Plenty of scams could be easily thwarted by making it a habit to verify information. If your business got an email request for payment, be sure to call or talk to the other party via their known contact details to verify if the request truly came from them.

Protecting assets electronically. Having firewalls in place, ensuring software and anti-virus are updated, and preventing copying of sensitive data can go a long way in making sure that you will have lower risk for BEC fraud.

What to do if You Suspect BEC Fraud

If your business has fallen for or has been targeted for BEC fraud, be sure to contact relevant authorities as well as your financial institutions. In some cases, transferred money can be placed on hold and can be recovered. If you need more help preventing BEC fraud or any other business online scam, then contact us today so we can let you know  how our private investigation services and private investigators can help your business.