Northwest Iowa — The Better Business Bureau is warning businesses about a very sophisticated scam that’s already cost one company in the region millions of dollars. Jim Hegarty, president of the bureau’s Omaha-Council Bluffs chapter, says the ruse could also expose thousands of workers to identity theft as the hackers disguise themselves as a company’s C-E-O in an email.
The con artists will hack into a company’s internal email servers and do reconnaissance for perhaps several weeks before launching their attack.
A company in the region, which was not identified, fell victim to the scam.
The best defense is having strong firewalls and remaining vigilant to check up directly on email requests that seem out of the ordinary, involve employees’ personal information or large amounts of money.
