A new phishing scam is making its way into inboxes across the country.
In fact, CBS 17 Investigative Reporter Felicia Bolton and several members of the news team recently received an email claiming to be from a coworker asking them to wire money.
According to the FBI, it’s an emerging financial cyber threat called “B.E.C.,” which stands for Business Email Compromise.
FBI officials stated organized crime groups often target an employee with an email that is usually from a supervisor who claims to be in a meeting and needs them to wire money on their behalf. The FBI discovered the scammers have tricked professionals out of billions of dollars and that amount is climbing.
If you receive this email, the Raleigh Better Business Bureau wants you to take a screen shot of the email and report it to them. They urge you not to reply to the email at all.
“The first thing is to delete it. You don’t want anything to do with it. You don’t want to click on any links because, sometimes these phishing emails could have malware that can get your personal information on your computer,” said BBB director of communications Alyssa Gutierrez.
According to the BBB, here are three red flags to look out for:
- The email will show urgency. The scammers want you to send the money quickly. The sender will claim they can only email you and not talk to you on the phone.
- There will be major spelling errors in the email. Officials stated these emails often come from other countries and the grammar is usually incorrect.
- Look closely at the email address. Although it states it’s from your co-worker, the email address will contain a strange ending like @inbox.lv.
Raleigh police stated they too have received reports of this scam.
If there’s something you want CBS 17 Investigators to get answers about, let us know. Send an email to answerdesk@cbs17.com.
