Yet Another Scam!
 | Author:
Victor Sample
Vic Sample: MT43 News Treasurer |
Tech Talk
Yet Another Scam!
There are more PC scams, viruses and malware than can be listed in an encyclopedia, but I have read several articles about another scam that is ingenious – and scary. The scammers trick employees of a company into electronically sending huge sums of money to the scammers' bank accounts by impersonating executives.
The first step in this particular type of scam is to infiltrate a company’s email system with some sort of malware. There are literally hundreds of ways to get malware into a company’s email system that scammers can use. They usually are very patient with this scam and learn which employees can authorize the electronic transfer of huge sums of money and which employees are in charge of arranging the electronic transfers. After the scammers get access to the email system and learn which people to target they will send an email that looks like it came from the CEO or from a Vice President (or anyone else that has the authority to authorize large payments) that ask for an electronic payment to be sent.
Usually, the request for large payment indicates that it has to be done ASAP; the CEO/Vice President is closing a big deal and the money needs to be sent right away. Most employees will hesitate to question the CEO or a Vice President. Generally speaking, questioning the actions of the CEO or a powerful Vice President is a quick way to get reprimanded, if not fired. So the employee transfers the money right away, per the request from the CEO/Vice President. Of course, the account is owned by the scammers. Once the funds are transferred to the scammers' account and the scam is discovered, the account will have been abandoned and the money long gone.
This type of scam is limited to companies and to employees that have authorization to electronically transfer large sums of money. It is probably unlikely that you will ever be the target of this scam, but everyone should be aware of the scam. I find this particular scam to be interesting because of the patience it takes for the scammers to determine who needs to be targeted and who they should use to generate the fake email ordering the transfer to be made. These scammers work as hard at this job as anyone else works at a valid job. The scammers are extremely smart and very patient. Imagine what they could accomplish working legitimate jobs!
