By: Capitol Federal®

Business Email Compromise: What is it and How to Protect Against it

Business email compromise (BEC) is one of the most common, and costly, types of fraud affecting businesses today. These scams don’t rely on sophisticated technology; rather, they exploit trust, urgency, and everyday business processes. Understanding how BEC works is an important step in protecting your business and your cash flow.

Business email compromise, or email account compromise, occurs when a scammer impersonates a trusted contact – such as an executive, employee or vendor – to trick a business into sending funds or sharing sensitive information via email. Because these emails often appear legitimate, they can be difficult to detect without proper safeguards in place.

How Scammers Attempt Business Email Compromise
 Criminals use several tactics to create convincing and timely requests, including:

  • Impersonating executives and requesting urgent wire or ACH transfers
  • Posing as vendors and asking for changes to payment or banking instructions
  • Hacking into legitimate email accounts to monitor conversations and insert fraudulent requests
  • Sending payroll or direct deposit change requests that appear to come from legitimate contacts

These messages often arrive at busy times, stress urgency, or request secrecy to avoid normal verification steps.

How to Defend Against Business Email Compromise
 Implement extra controls and tools to catch suspicious activity early:

  • Require two people to approve wires, ACH payments, and other high‑risk transactions 
  • Always confirm payment or account changes through a known phone number or contact. Never rely on the signature line contact information as the fraudster will change that too.
  • Limit user access and set payment limits so no single account has too much control 
  • Train employees to recognize red flags and encourage slowing down to ask questions
  • Use account alerts and fraud prevention tools to help monitor activity; Capitol Federal® offers Positive Pay to protect businesses from Check and ACH Fraud

What to Do if You Suspect Fraud:

If something doesn’t look right, act quickly. Do not respond to the suspicious email and take the following steps to report the activity. 

  1. Contact Capitol Federal immediately to report the incident.
    • Call 1-888-822-7333
    • We will walk you through next steps for your accounts.
  1. Report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Hotline:
  2. Report to local law enforcement.
    • File a report with your local police where the scam or identity theft took place.
  1. Review recent activity
    • Go through your account transactions and dispute any charges not familiar.
Categories: Fraud Prevention and Security