Money & Banking
Wire Fraud & Business Email Compromise
Using the banking system, wire transfers, email, or mail to defraud victims or financial institutions. It includes business email compromise (BEC), romance scams that end in wires, check fraud, and account takeovers.
01 — How it works
- 01
Recon
Study payment habits, vendors, and approval chains.
- 02
Impersonate
Spoof a trusted sender with an urgent request.
- 03
Wire
Victim transfers funds to an attacker-controlled account.
- 04
Cash out
Forward through mules and withdraw before recall.
02 — Lifecycle
From first contact to detection.
Impersonation
A trusted identity is spoofed.
Transfer
Funds wired to an attacker account.
Holding
Mules and overseas accounts receive the money.
Loss
Recall often fails; victims and banks absorb it.
03 — Common variants
- Business email compromise
- Romance-to-wire
- Account takeover
- Vendor impersonation
04 — Statutes & penalties
18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud), § 1344 (Bank Fraud)
Up to 20–30 years. Sentences increase sharply with the loss amount and number of victims; many BEC cases now involve losses in the millions.
05 — How people are drawn in
BEC targets employees simply doing their jobs when a convincing but fraudulent request arrives. Romance scams manipulate victims emotionally over long periods.
06 — Examples
- Business Email Compromise: attackers impersonate an executive or vendor and trick employees into wiring funds to controlled accounts.
- Romance and grandparent scams that groom victims before requesting an urgent wire.
- Check fraud and account-takeover operations that deposit stolen or counterfeit checks and withdraw quickly.