Federal authorities have arrested dozens of people for allegedly hijacking or intercepting wire transfers through sophisticated email scams, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.
Law enforcement officials arrested 74 people for allegedly carrying out business email compromise (BEC) schemes, or “cyber-enabled financial fraud” as part of Operation Wire Wire, according to a DOJ press release.
Hackers execute BEC scams by impersonating employees or business executives after gaining access to their email accounts. These types of attacks use social engineering tactics to trick unsuspecting employees and business executives into making wire transfers to bank accounts that are controlled by the criminals. The elderly are particularly targeted in BEC schemes.
