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FBI 2020 IC3 REPORT: BEC AND EAC LOSSES CONTINUE TO RISE

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 2. Articles & Thought Leadership
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 3. FBI 2020 IC3 Report: BEC and EAC Losses Continue to Rise

Anand Raghavan
Mar 19, 2021

Learn more about the trends highlighted in the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report,
spotlighting the continued danger posed by BEC and EAC attacks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earlier this week, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released their
2020 Internet Crime Report, with updated statistics on Business Email Compromise
(BEC), Email Account Compromise (EAC), and COVID-19 scams. This article will
compile our understanding of the trends highlighted in the report, signifying
how some things changed while others remained largely the same.


BEC AND EAC REMAIN THE COSTLIEST SCAMS

The Internet Crime Report discovered an interesting BEC pattern. While there was
a reduction in the number of BEC/EAC complaints (from 20,373 in 2018 to 19,369
in 2020), the reported losses increased year-over-year, from $1.29 billion in
2018 to $1.86 billion in 2020.

It’s likely that attackers have refined their BEC tactics and are confident
enough to pursue higher dollar amounts in their scams. While other forms of
cybercrime continue to endanger organizations’ security processes and peace of
mind, BEC and EAC remain the forerunners in harming bank balances.

Fig: BEC and EAC complaints fell in 2020, but reported dollar losses increased
YOY from 2018 to 2020

Learn how a typical BEC attack works in What Is Business Email Compromise? A
Definitive Guide to BEC

The IC3 report also spotlights the evolution of BEC and EAC attacks since 2013,
when the FBI first started tracking them. While these attacks began as
relatively simple email spoofs requesting fraudulent wire payments, they have
grown to encompass attacks like payroll diversion fraud, vendor email
compromise, and industry-focused scams targeting sectors like real estate and
healthcare.

Fig: The evolution of targeted email attacks


THE PHISHING PROBLEM PERSISTS

Since phishing attacks have existed for a long time, you might assume that the
problem has already been solved. However, stats from the 2020 Internet Crime
Report tell another story.

The IC3 received 241,342 complaints on phishing and related attacks like
smishing, vishing, and pharming in 2020. This number increased by almost 110%
from 2019 when they received 114,702 complaints.

Since these numbers constitute only reported complaints, we can assume that the
real phishing impact numbers are much higher than those presented in the report.

Fig: Number of complaints on phishing, smishing, vishing, and pharming attacks
increased by 110% from 2019 to 2020

This trend aligns with what the Armorblox threat research team has observed,
mainly related to a consistent increase in 0-day credential phishing attacks. We
have seen cybercriminals exploit Google and other free online services,
impersonate known brands, and use voice in combination with email in their
attempts to extract victims’ credentials.


EXPLOITING TRUST IN A YEAR OF UNCERTAINTY

In 2020, the IC3 received over 28,500 COVID-19 related complaints. Additionally,
in mid-April of 2020, Google’s Threat Analysis Group reported that they detected
18 million COVID-19 themed malware and phishing emails per day.

During times filled with volatility and uncertainty, our brains tend to take
specific shortcuts on whom to trust. We lean into trusting people we know,
entities with authority, and anyone who can help reduce our uncertainty. Thus,
it is disappointing (but not surprising) to see government impersonation attacks
reported by the IC3 rise in 2020.

Scammers also exploited trust by replicating processes that the government had
already instituted. Scammers hijacked these government measures to steal money
and data, whether it was unemployment insurance, small business loans,
vaccination programs, or stimulus checks.

Since the programs were already in place, scammers did not have to employ any
sophisticated tradecraft other than asking for money or PII by pretending to be
someone else.

Armorblox has observed persistent email attacks that use COVID-19 as a lure.
Read COVID Email Scams Aren’t Going Away to learn more.


SOCIALLY ENGINEERING THE MOST VULNERABLE

The report highlighted some sobering statistics on how cybercriminals continue
to use social engineering techniques to prey on vulnerable people.

Most COVID-19 related scams involved attackers fraudulently submitting
unemployment insurance claims after stealing victims’ identities. In addition,
paycheck Protection Programs (PPP) and small business economic injury disaster
loans were also used in scams, harming people and businesses that were already
most at risk from pandemic-related upheaval.

If we look at cybercrime victims by age group, almost 22% of all complaints
involved victims over 60, with reported losses above $966 million. People over
the age of 60 are often the subjects of romance scams, grandparent scams,
caregiver scams, and charity scams.

Given how uncertain and isolating 2020 was for all of us, the average person
would be even more likely to respond to these social engineering cues.


GUIDANCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS

If you or your organization are victims of a BEC attack, the IC3 provides the
following guidance:

 * Contact the originating financial institution as soon as fraud is recognized
   to request a recall or reversal.
 * File a detailed complaint with www.ic3.gov.
 * Never make any payment changes without verifying them with the intended
   recipient directly.
 * Visit the IC3 website regularly for updated PSAs regarding BEC trends and
   other fraud schemes targeting specific populations or industries.

Here are some additional security hygiene recommendations from the Armorblox
team:

 * Follow MFA and password management best practices: 
   * Deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all possible business and
     personal accounts. 
   * Don’t use the same password on multiple sites/accounts.
   * Use password management software to store your account passwords. 
   * Avoid using passwords that reference your publicly available information
     (date of birth, anniversary date, etc.). 
   * Don’t repeat passwords across accounts or use generic passwords such as
     your birth date, ‘password123,’ ‘YourName123,’ etc.

 * Watch out for social engineering cues
   
   As most inboxes today are overflowing with unreads, we know that ‘read every
   email rationally’ is not realistic advice.
   
   Nonetheless, everyone should carefully engage with emails related to money or
   data requests. Subject the email to an eye test that includes inspecting the
   sender name, email address, the language within the email, and any logical
   inconsistencies.
   
   Examples:
   
   * Why is the IRS asking for my social security number over email? 
   * Why is a known vendor changing bank account details the day before an
     invoice is due?
   
   
   AUGMENT NATIVE EMAIL SECURITY WITH ADDITIONAL CONTROLS 
   
   For better protection against targeted email attacks like BEC, EAC, and 0-day
   credential phishing, organizations should invest in technologies that take a
   materially different approach to threat detection from built-in email
   security controls like Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and Microsoft
   Defender for Office 365 (MSDO).
   
   Gartner’s Market Guide for Email Security covers new approaches that vendors
   brought to market in 2020 and should be a good starting point for your
   evaluation.
   
   For more email security tips, threat research, and industry trends, join the
   Armorblox mailing list. If you’re reevaluating your email security stack and
   are interested in augmenting your built-in email security, schedule a demo
   with Armorblox to learn how we stop BEC and other targeted phishing attacks
   using Natural Language Understanding.
   
   Schedule a Demo
   
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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copy.

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CUSTOMER STORY: CUTTING THROUGH THE NOISE

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CUSTOMER STORY: KEEPING THE CITY RUNNING

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YOU’VE GOT A PHISH PACKAGE: FEDEX AND DHL EXPRESS PHISHING ATTACKS

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were legitimate.






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