Business Email Compromises (BEC) can have big payouts to the hackers, but the most common scam involves crooks tricking victims into sending gift cards worth as little as $250.
A common tactic is to pose as someone in management asking for an employee to do them a favour – because in many cases, the employee won’t question a request that’s supposedly coming from their boss.
Gift cards are useful for cybercriminals as they can be cashed out immediately, and it’s difficult to trace where the funds have gone.
The Solution? Have good internal processes in place, so payment requests are validated before they are processed regardless of the source. Make it a policy to confirm ALL fund requests with a phone call.
Additional Resources
https://www.zdnet.com/article/phishing-scams-are-costing-us-more-than-ever-this-trick-is-most-likely-to-catch-you-out/
