How fraudsters deceive companies through a wide variety of methods

by Patrick Müller

20.04.2023

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CEO Fraud Explosion:
How fraudsters not only deceive companies but make identification difficult through a wide variety of methods.

What are the variants of CEO Fraud?
In general, CEO fraud involves a form of identity theft where criminals steal the identity of a person or company to execute or prepare for fraudulent activities.

When we generalize identity theft, it can also be described as "internal/external business partner fraud," leading to many fraud schemes that follow similar patterns and can be identified or prevented in similar ways.

Various fabricated stories are created based on detailed research, often tied to current issues, problems, vulnerabilities, or ongoing situations. Therefore, the identities of people or companies being impersonated can vary significantly.

Some Variants:

Internal fictitious transactions: Requests for payment of acquisition amounts in corporate takeovers, business deals, or other lucrative purchases such as patents, real estate, or machinery.
Urgent need for intercompany payments: Often combined with real emergency expenses or actual customer payment delays.
Bank detail changes: Falsified requests to change company bank details before a real transaction takes place. Alternatively: Requests to create or correct supplier or customer bank details.
Refunds from customer payments.
Advance payments for ongoing large orders.
Feigning official authority: Demands for payment of overdue taxes or other fees.
External business partners: Existing customers, suppliers, or service providers can be fictitiously involved to request "things" related to existing or newly created business transactions.

‼️ Fraud schemes continue to evolve and adapt to circumstances and weaknesses. The examples above are known attack points from the past. In the future, new stories and variations will likely be invented.

New stories will sound convincing and believable again, as fraudsters carefully research and gather information about companies and executives to make the instructions as authentic as possible.