The suspects, who are all residents of Spain, allegedly targeted companies in the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Chile. The three arrested, who range in age from 34 to 67, have been charged with "belonging to a criminal organization, continued scam, money laundering, discovery and disclosure of secrets, documentary falsehood and usurpation of marital status," Spanish authorities say.
None of the three suspects were named by the Guardia Civil, Spain's national police force, which led the investigation.
Over the course of a three-year investigation, dubbed "Lavanco," Spanish investigators uncovered a web of over 80 shell companies and 185 bank accounts used as part of the BEC scam, which allegedly helped the suspects avoid detection and allowed them to launder the any stolen.
BEC on the RiseBusiness email compromise scams, also known as CEO fraud, have become big money-makers for fraudsters.
A July report from the U.S. Treasury Department found that the scams are costing U.S. companies a total of more than $300 million a month.
In September, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center noted that global losses and attempted thefts from BEC scams increased by 100 percent over a 14-month period. And the U.K. National Cyber Security Center warned in September that schools and universities are also falling victim to BEC schemes.
How the Scam WorkedAuthorities in Spain say the suspects in the BEC scam allegedly began by stealing credentials of managers at targeted companies using phishing emails and then taking over their accounts.
Using these stolen executive email credentials, the su ..
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