BEC scam

The BEC stands for Business Email Compromise.  This scam started in businesses where an employee would get an email, ostensibly from the CEO, asking them to transfer money to an account given in the email.  Usually this kind of scam email is short, has no images or attachments that might be suspicious.  There is a reason given for the request and urgency is stressed so that the employee does not delay and possibly think better of it or start asking questions.  The scammer adopts the style and tone and look of the business so some research goes into it.

A further development of this is that the scammer hacks into the email system so that the email written within the system is absolutely genuine.  There is no way that the recipient could know that it is a scam.  This takes extra trouble but the rewards are great and detection is even harder.

It is the current scam of choice.  The target of the email has broadened from employees to clients of the business.