<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-prevent-wire-transfer-fraud-tips-for-smbs/">https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-prevent-wire-transfer-fraud-tips-for-smbs/</a></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Phishing is very popular with cybercriminals. Phishing is a method whereby
cybercriminals digitally defraud users; something that is not often
discussed is what digital-scam artists do with the information they
obtain. One of the more lucrative digital crimes is fraudulent wire
transfers.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail-col-8"><div class="gmail-col-main gmail-col-8"><div class="gmail-content"><h2><strong>What are wire transfers?</strong></h2><p>A <a href="http://mysecurityawareness.com/article.php?article=393&title=whats-the-difference-between-ach-and-wire-transfers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wire transfer</a>,
according to MySecurityAwareness.com, is a near real-time bank-to-bank
transaction that allows one person to move money from her account
directly into someone else's account. "When a wire transfer is made,
both account holders are verified, as well as the amount of money in
each account," adds the My Security Awareness website.</p><h2><strong>What is wire-transfer fraud?</strong></h2><p>
Wire-transfer fraud occurs when company employees are deceived by
fraudsters to wire money to a bank account controlled by the scam
artists. "They (digital fraudsters) use language that might be specific
to the person or the company they are targeting and then request a
fraudulent wire transfer using dollar amounts that would not be out of
the ordinary based on the customer," explains this <a href="https://www.bankatunited.com/security-center/wire-fraud-scams-cybercrime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Bank security notice</a>.
"The cybercriminals use phishing emails and then leverage trusted
relationships between individuals who authorize wire transfers and those
who send them out."</p>
<div class="gmail-sharethrough-article">
</div><p> The security article cautions that wire-transfer fraud is
not specific to businesses or organizations that make wire payments;
rather, anyone can be a victim of this type of cybercrime and should
take every precaution to protect against it.</p><h2><strong>A lucrative example</strong></h2>
<p> Under the right circumstances, phish-only-captured information
may be enough to allow digital fraudsters to pretend to be a business
contracted by the company under attack. If it's not, attackers will use
the scammed information to access company computers and then steal the
appropriate sensitive financial data. Once the attackers are familiar
with how a company pays bills, who the company pays regularly, and if
there are any outstanding balances due, they can forge a fake invoice
with new payment instructions, including how to transfer money to the
scammers' bank account.</p><p> It may seem like
a lot of effort to make money, but it is successful enough to get the
FBI involved with Operation WireWire. "The operation resulted in the
seizure of nearly $2.4 million and the disruption and recovery of
approximately $14 million in fraudulent wire transfers," according to
this <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/international-bec-takedown-061118" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">June 2018 FBI press release</a>.
"The devastating impacts these cases have on victims and victim
companies affect not only the individual businesses but also the global
economy. Since the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began formally
keeping track of BEC (Business Email Compromises) and its variant,
e-mail account compromise (EAC), there has been a loss of over $3.7
billion reported to the IC3."</p><h2><strong>The impact of fraudulent wire transfers</strong></h2><p> <a href="https://www.wellsfargo.com/financial-education/basic-finances/manage-money/payments/safety-tips-wire-transfers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Security pundits at Wells Fargo</a>
note that wire transfers are an immediate form of payment; once
fraudsters have obtained the funds, the wire transfer cannot be
reversed. The authors of the United Bank security notice suggest there
are other losses besides monetary ones:</p><ul><li>The potential for damage to a company's reputation; and</li> <li>The employee time required to repair damage and inform authorities about the fraudulent activity.</li></ul><h2><strong>Tips on how to prevent wire-transfer fraud</strong></h2><p> The authors of the <a href="https://www.bankatunited.com/Security-Center/Wire-Fraud-Scams-Cybercrime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Bank security notice</a>
offer the following tips that company personnel should follow to
protect themselves and their employer from becoming victims of
fraudulent wire requests:</p><ul><li>Confirm email requests from a known party by phone or in-person in case their email has been hacked;</li> <li>Be wary of e-mail-only wire transfer requests and requests involving urgency;</li> <li>Monitor company bank accounts on a daily basis;</li> <li>Immediately contact the involved banking institution and local police if there is any suspicion of wire-transfer fraud; and</li> <li>Check the information included on a wire transfer—one typo could send the money to the wrong person or business.</li></ul><p> Next are tips specific to businesses:</p><ul><li>Make
sure company policies and procedures regarding wire transfers and other
banking activity are understood and practiced by employees;</li> <li>Establish an employee-awareness program;</li> <li>Businesses should establish procedures for incoming and outgoing payments;</li> <li>If possible, require a second authenticator within your business for all wire transfer requests;</li> <li>Make sure your employees know when a scam happens, how it was perpetrated, and motivate them to remain vigilant; and</li> <li>Businesses
should invest in a detailed review of its IT infrastructure and
security that is reflective to the size of their respective business.</li></ul><h2><strong>Final considerations</strong></h2><p>
It is important enough to reiterate that wire transfers are an
immediate form of payment; once a scammer has obtained the wired funds,
the transfer <em>cannot</em> be reversed, even if the check is fraudulent.</p><p>
If illegal activity is suspected, besides local law enforcement
agencies and banking institutions, report the matter to the Federal
Trade Commission at the <a href="https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FTC Complaint Assistant</a> or 1-877-FTC-HELP.</p><div class="gmail-newsletter-shortcode">
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