AI can make business email compromise (BEC) messages more fluent, convincing, personalized, and easier to produce at scale. But BEC is not a new kind of attack, and not every BEC scam uses AI. The practical defense remains to verify payment changes through a separate, trusted channel—rather than trusting a polished email, familiar logo, or plausible sender name.
How AI is changing social engineering
Social engineering manipulates people into taking actions that benefit a criminal, such as sharing credentials or sending money. Generative AI can help write convincing messages, tailor them to a person or organization, translate them, and produce more variations quickly. It can also generate images used in impersonation. The FBI says criminals use AI-generated text to appear believable in social-engineering, spear-phishing, and financial-fraud schemes, including to overcome common signs of fraud (FBI IC3, December 3, 2024).
These capabilities can improve familiar scams without changing their basic objective: persuade someone to trust a request and act before checking it. A well-written email is not proof of authenticity, and AI involvement cannot reliably be determined from polish or tone alone.
What business email compromise is—and where AI fits
The FBI defines BEC, also called email account compromise (EAC), as a sophisticated scam targeting businesses and individuals who make legitimate funds transfers. A criminal may compromise a real email account through social engineering or computer intrusion, or impersonate someone to make a fraudulent request look legitimate (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024).
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For context, the FBI IC3 reported $55,499,915,582 in exposed BEC losses from October 2013 through December 2023, drawing on reports to IC3, law enforcement, and financial institutions. This broad historical figure is not AI-specific, and “exposed losses” should not be read as a tally of final, unrecovered losses (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024).
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Common BEC requests that deserve an independent check
The FBI describes these scenarios as based on real victim situations (FBI, Business Email Compromise):
- Changed vendor payment details: A message appears to come from a supplier and asks you to send an invoice payment to a new bank account.
- Executive or employee request: An apparent manager asks for a transfer or gift cards, perhaps emphasizing confidentiality or urgency.
- Real-estate wire instructions: A message provides or changes wiring details for a property transaction.
Any of these requests can look plausible, especially when an attacker has learned real names, business relationships, invoice details, or timing. Treat changes to payment instructions and unusual transfer requests as verification triggers, even when the sender appears familiar.
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How to assess a suspicious email without trusting appearances
Phishing may imitate a familiar person or vendor, ask you to click a link or disclose sensitive information, and pressure you to act urgently. Logos and email addresses can also be spoofed, according to the FTC (FTC, Cybersecurity for Small Business).
Quick Recap
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- Pause when a message asks for credentials, sensitive information, a payment, or a change to bank details—particularly if it adds urgency or secrecy.
- Do not treat a familiar display name, logo, writing style, or plausible explanation as proof that the request is genuine.
- Do not use a phone number, link, or reply address supplied in the questionable message to verify it. Reach the person or company through contact information you already trust.
- Report suspicious messages using your organization’s established process so staff responsible for security or payments can assess them.
How to verify a payment change or wire request
- Stop the transaction. Do not update the payee or send funds while the request is unverified.
- Contact the requester independently. Use a previously known phone number or another trusted channel, not contact details included in the suspicious message. The FBI IC3 recommends secondary-channel verification for changes to account information (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024).
- Confirm the exact details. Ask the known contact to confirm the requested change and the destination account using your organization’s approved process. If the request cannot be verified, do not proceed.
- Follow internal payment controls. Ensure the required approver reviews the change and that any separation-of-duties or callback procedures are completed before funds leave.
Which defenses help—and when they act
| Control | When it helps | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Independent verification of payment changes | Before a transfer, by checking account-detail changes or unusual payment requests through a separate trusted channel. | It does not protect an email account from compromise; it verifies the transaction request. |
| Unique passwords and two-factor authentication | When securing accounts against unauthorized access. The FBI recommends these account-protection measures (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024). | Authentication does not confirm that every payment request from an account is legitimate. |
| Email authentication and reporting processes | As part of reducing spoofing opportunities and making it easier for staff to report suspected phishing. The FTC recommends email authentication technology and clear reporting processes (FTC, Cybersecurity for Small Business). | These measures do not prove that every message is safe or prevent every form of account compromise. |
| Staff education and phishing examples | Before an incident, by helping employees—especially help-desk and support staff—recognize current phishing approaches and report them promptly. The FBI recommends education and immediate reporting protocols (FBI, Business Email Compromise). | Training is not a substitute for payment checks, account security, or a response plan. |
| Transfer-response procedures | After a fraudulent payment, when a fast call to the financial institution may help initiate recall assistance. | A recall request is not a guarantee that funds will be recovered. |
What to do after a suspected BEC payment
- Contact the sending financial institution immediately. Explain that the transfer may be fraudulent and request recall assistance. Speed matters, but a recall does not guarantee recovery (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024).
- Report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Preserve the suspicious messages and relevant transaction details for the report and your organization’s response (FBI IC3, September 11, 2024).
- Use your organization’s incident process. Notify the appropriate security, finance, and management contacts so they can assess potentially affected accounts and payment procedures.
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