A coordinated effort by the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other partners led to the arrest of 74 individuals in the U.S. and abroad in connection with recent business email compromise scams, the DOJ announced today. Federal authorities seized nearly $2.4 million and disrupted and recovered approximately $14 million in fraudulent wire transfers.
Business email compromise scams — a sophisticated type of fraud which has grown more prevalent in recent years — often target company employees through email and involve fraudulent requests for wire transfers or other payments, or the transfer of personally identifiable information.