TL;DR: Business email compromise (BEC) criminals redirect legitimate payments into their own accounts. In April 2024 federal prosecutors in Connecticut announced more than $2.28 million recovered across two cases, including a school board and a healthcare company. In October 2023 the Secret Service helped recover $2,462,000 for another victim. In every case, fast action by banks and investigators made the difference.
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Connecticut, April 2024: a school board and a healthcare company
The U.S. Attorney's Office for Connecticut reported on April 26, 2024 that criminals had created fraudulent email accounts imitating legitimate vendors and service providers, then redirected payments to accounts they controlled. Two victims were involved.
- A government school board lost about $5.9 million. About $1.19 million was seized, and about $3.6 million was returned by financial institutions.
- A healthcare company lost about $1.65 million when an insurance payment was redirected. About $1.10 million was seized, and insurance reimbursed the remaining loss.
Together, the civil forfeiture actions returned more than $2.28 million. The FBI's New Haven office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office for Connecticut worked the cases.
Middle District of Florida, October 2023: a spoofed supplier email
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on October 31, 2023 that the U.S. Secret Service had helped recover $2,462,000. Fraudsters spoofed a business email to impersonate a company's supplier and asked that payment be redirected to a criminal-controlled account. The victim wired the money, the victim's bank acted quickly, and law enforcement froze the funds. The Department of Justice returned the full amount to the victim through its Asset Forfeiture Program.
What the cases have in common
- The attack used a believable vendor identity and a payment-change request.
- Banks and investigators moved fast once the fraud was spotted.
- Recovery came through freezing funds and then a forfeiture process, not through the criminals handing money back.
How to protect your business
Confirm any change to payment details by phone, using a number you already hold, before sending money. If a wire has already gone out, call your bank immediately and ask for a recall, then report to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Our guides on how to reverse a wire transfer scam and how to recover wire scam money cover the steps, and business email compromise statistics for 2026 shows how common the attack has become.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much was recovered in the Connecticut business email cases?
More than $2.28 million: about $1.19 million seized in the school board case and about $1.10 million seized in the healthcare company case, plus other recoveries described in the U.S. Attorney's release.
How was $2,462,000 recovered in the Secret Service case?
The victim's bank acted quickly, law enforcement froze the funds, and the Department of Justice returned the full amount through its Asset Forfeiture Program.
What is business email compromise?
A fraud in which criminals impersonate a vendor, supplier or executive by email and persuade a company to send a payment to an account they control.
What should a company do right after sending a fraudulent wire?
Call the bank immediately to request a recall, and file a report with the FBI's IC3. Speed is the biggest factor in whether funds can be frozen.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice: Asset Forfeiture Actions Result in More Than $2.28 Million Returned to 2 Business Email Compromise Victims (Apr 26, 2024)
- U.S. Department of Justice: United States Recovers $2.4 Million Obtained in Business Email Compromise (Oct 31, 2023)
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)