What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims

In this Help Net Security video, Ronnie Tokazowski, Principal Threat Advisor at Cofense, offers insight into the world’s most lucrative cybercrime – business email compromise (BEC).

The Cofense team recently purchased $500 worth of trackable gift cards to intentionally give to scammers in the hopes of discovering what happens once scammers receive these funds, engaging with 54 live BEC attacks over 5 weeks.

With gift cards continuing to be one of the more difficult cash-out methods to track, analysts uncovered how quickly scammers move funds. In all but one case, each gift card was stolen, re-sold, and used for purchases within 24 hours.