Using Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, an attacker gains access to a corporate email account and spoofs the owner's identity to initiate fraudulent wire transfers. The attacker typically uses the identity of a top-level executive to trick the target or targets into sending money into the attacker's account. Also known as Man-in-the-Email scams, BEC scams often target businesses that regularly send wire transfers to international clients and may involve the use of malware, social engineering, or both. For more information, see FBI Public Service Announcement.

With the integrated Antispam Engine, ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange performs the following to effectively protect organizations against BEC scams: