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Business Email Compromise
Business Email Compromise
Attacks Are on the Rise
Here’s What You Need to Know
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is one of the fastest-growing—and most financially damaging—types of fraud targeting businesses today. These scams are sophisticated, hard to detect, and often involve attackers impersonating executives, vendors, or partners to trick employees into sending money or sensitive information.
Why BEC is on the Rise
As more business communication happens via email, fraudsters are getting smarter about exploiting it. With the help of social engineering, phishing emails, and even hacked accounts, scammers can craft highly convincing messages that appear to come from inside your company or a trusted vendor.
These emails may:
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Request a wire transfer to a new account
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Ask for updated payment information
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Instruct payroll changes or direct deposit rerouting
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Include fake invoices or contracts with urgent requests
They often come from email addresses that are spoofed—or worse, from real accounts that have been compromised.
Real Risk, Real Losses
According to the FBI, BEC scams have caused billions in losses for U.S. businesses. What makes them so dangerous is how convincing they can be—especially if the scammer has done their homework by researching your company structure, relationships, or timing (like payroll weeks or vendor payment cycles).
How to Stay Protected
- Verify any unusual requests. Always confirm transfer requests or changes to payment info through a known phone number—not by replying to the email.
- Use dual approval processes. Require a second person to verify all outgoing wires or ACH payments.
- Train your team. Make fraud awareness a part of your culture. Help employees recognize red flags like urgent language, email domain misspellings, or unexpected requests.
- Use strong email security tools. Deploy spam filters, email authentication (like SPF/DKIM), and endpoint protection to help block attacks before they land.
- Monitor accounts closely. Daily reconciliation and Positive Pay solutions can help catch fraud attempts before they succeed.
Suspect Fraud?
If you suspect a BEC attempt or have already sent money in error please call our TreasuryONE Helpdesk at 800.530.3719, Monday-Friday, 8 am-5 pm (ET), excluding holidays.
