CyberGuard dictionary / Phishing & Social Engineering
Business Email Compromise
Also known as BEC
Fraud in which an attacker uses or impersonates a business email identity to induce payments or disclosure.
In simple terms
A scammer pretends to be a boss, colleague, or vendor and asks for a payment or sensitive information.
Technical explanation
The attack may involve spoofed mail, a lookalike domain, or a genuinely compromised mailbox.
Fraud can originate from mailbox compromise, domain impersonation, or manipulated conversation threads. Payment changes require a control outside the email conversation because the apparent sender may be under attacker control.
Examples in practice
A changed invoice asks a company to send funds to a new account, allegedly approved by its supplier.
The forged reply appears in an existing invoice thread and requests a new bank account. Finance pauses the payment and confirms the change by calling the supplier at its previously recorded number.
Why it matters
Payment changes should be verified through a trusted, separate channel.
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Sources and further reading
Published 2026-10-15 · Last updated 2026-10-15 · CyberGuard editorial content. Source links provide context; they do not imply endorsement.