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What is Business Email Compromise (BEC)?

A scam where attackers take over or impersonate a business email account to redirect payments or steal sensitive information.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) is one of the most financially damaging categories of cybercrime — and it usually does not involve malware. The pattern: an attacker steals or impersonates a legitimate email account (often through phishing or MFA bypass), studies the inbox, then inserts themselves into a real financial conversation — changing wire instructions, redirecting invoices, or requesting urgent transfers. Detection requires monitoring inbox-rule changes, suspicious sign-ins, and the conversational patterns that indicate an attacker has taken over a mailbox.