{"id":223980,"date":"2018-11-27T13:23:51","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T03:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=223980"},"modified":"2018-11-27T13:23:51","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T03:23:51","slug":"scammers-target-business-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/11\/27\/scammers-target-business-emails\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers Target Business Emails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard (Photo: ACCC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 27, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scamwatch is calling on businesses to urgently review how they verify and pay invoices after reports that “business email compromise” (BEC) scams grew by a third this year.<\/p>\n

“This is a very sophisticated scam, which is why many businesses only realise they\u2019ve been caught out once it\u2019s too late,\u201d ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.<\/p>\n

BEC scams occur when a hacker gains access to a business\u2019s email accounts, or spoofs a business\u2019s email so their emails appear to come from the company.<\/p>\n

The hacker then sends emails to customers claiming the business\u2019s banking details have changed and that future invoices should be paid to a new account.<\/p>\n

These emails look legitimate because they come from one of a business\u2019s official email accounts.<\/p>\n

Payments then start to flow into the hacker\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

In other variations of the scam, the hacker will send an email internally to a business\u2019s accounts team, pretending to be the CEO, asking for funds to be urgently transferred to an off-shore account.<\/p>\n

Hackers can also request salary or rental payments be directed to a new account.<\/p>\n

Scamwatch has even received reports of hackers intercepting house deposits that have been sent to conveyancers, real estate agents or law firms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a scam that targets all kinds of businesses, including charities and local sporting clubs,” Ms Rickard said. <\/strong><\/p>\n

“There is a misconception these scams target just small business, however the largest amount of reports and losses came from medium-sized businesses, including one that lost more than $300,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Businesses reported losses to these scams totalling $2.8 million to Scamwatch in 2018.<\/p>\n

However, this represents only a fraction of total losses to this variety of scam across Australia.<\/p>\n

BEC scams cause businesses significant financial harm, accounting for 63 per cent of all business losses reported to Scamwatch, and the average loss is nearly $30,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffective management procedures can go a long way towards preventing scams, so all businesses should firstly be aware these scams exist and that their staff know about them,\u201d Ms Rickard said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey should consider a multi-person approval process for transactions over a certain dollar threshold and keep their IT security up-to-date with anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a good firewall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBusinesses should also check directly with their supplier if they notice a change in account details.”<\/p>\n

Scamwatch said it was vital a business did not do this just by return email or by using other contact details provided.<\/p>\n

“Find older communications to ensure you have the right contact details or otherwise independently source them, so you can be sure you’re not contacting the scammer,\u201d Ms Rickard said.<\/p>\n

Businesses affected by BEC scams should contact their financial institution immediately and consider professional IT advice to ensure their email systems and data are secure from hackers.<\/p>\n

Businesses can report scams to www.scamwatch.gov.au<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

They can also subscribe to Scamwatch on Twitter<\/a><\/strong> and Scamwatch radar email alerts<\/a><\/strong> to keep up-to-date with the latest scams affecting the business community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scamwatch is calling on businesses to urgently review how they verify and pay invoices after reports about business email compromise scams grew by a third this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":178571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nScammers Target Business Emails - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scamwatch is calling on businesses to urgently review how they verify and pay invoices after reports about business email compromise scams grew by a third this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/11\/27\/scammers-target-business-emails\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scammers Target Business Emails - 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