Small businesses are big targets for fund transfer fraud

During the first half of 2021, Coalition saw a surge of these attacks and initial fund transfer fraud losses reached an average of $388,000 (before accounting for recovered funds). In the second half, the average initial loss did temper some as it dropped 11% to $347,000. However, that was still 78% above initial average losses from 2020. (Credit: fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Overall fund transfer fraud (FTF) losses increased 69% from 2020-2021, according to claims data from Coalition, Inc. The frequency of these cybercrimes grew 21% for companies with less than $25 million in annual revenue and 68% for those with $25 million-$100 million in revenue during the period.

Typically initiated through social engineering tactics such as phishing and business email compromise, FTF is one of the easier ways to monetize a cyberattack, the insurance company wrote in its 2022 Cyber Claims Report. Once they have access to a business email, hackers can manipulate contracts or modify payment instructions at times without even triggering security alerts. Cybercriminals are also sending payment instructions that purport to come from customers or vendors either through spoof accounts made to look legit or by comprising the third party’s email system.