Hackers Impersonate CEOs in 1 Million Emails to Trick Employees Into $50,000 Payments
Brief
A large email fraud campaign used fake CEO messages and invoices to push employees toward payments of nearly $50,000. The operation did not rely on a malicious attachment or software flaw. Instead, it used ordinary email to deliver a scam.
The attackers sent over one million messages to users between August 3 and 5. Most recipients were in the United States, representing 87. 7% of the campaign.
Their objective was to persuade accounts-payable staff to approve an Automated Clearing House, or ACH, transfer to criminal-controlled bank accounts.
Microsoft said in a report shared with Cyber Security News (CSN) that analysts identified signs consistent with AI-assisted template development.
It was a business email compromise campaign using impersonation, fake supplier material, and personalised messages, not malware.