The National Police have arrested 64 people, two of them in Tenerifefor allegedly defrauding four million euros from businessmen through the ‘Business Email Compromise’, consisting of the impersonation of companies to receive invoice payments.
31 people have been arrested in the Balearic Islands, four people in Madrid, 17 in Valencia, five in Segovia, two in Burgos, one in San Sebastián, two in Zaragoza and two in Tenerife, allegedly responsible for the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization , fraud, money laundering and computer access. Those now arrested committed the scams through the modus operandi known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) whose objective was the members of the administration departments and the executive directors of companies. The attacks occurred from Nigeria, the country where they sent the fraudulently obtained money.
The criminal typology used is known as Business Email Compromise, consisting of the fact that cybercriminals, after accessing corporate emails using social engineering techniques, focused on obtaining confidential information from companies, their client portfolio or economic transactions pending payment. Immediately afterwards, they usurped the corporate identity of these companies before their clients and financial institutions.