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“The Department of Justice has taken aggressive action against fraudsters in recent months, conducting the largest sweep of fraud against American seniors in history back in February,” said Sessions.The Justice Department noted BEC schemes often target employees with access to company finances and businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. Individual victims, such as real estate purchasers and the elderly, are also frequently exploited. In these sophisticated scams, fraudsters attempt to convince victims to make wire transfers to bank accounts controlled by criminals typically by impersonating a key employee or business partner. Meanwhile, individual victims are often lured through romance and lottery scams. Since the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began tracking such schemes, victims have reported the loss of more than $3.7 billion. “This operation demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to disrupt and dismantle criminal enterprises that target American citizens and their businesses,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners around the world to end these fraud schemes and protect the hard-earned assets of our citizens,” added Wray. For tips on how to detect Business Email Compromise scams, visit: https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/featured/how-detect-business-email-compromise-bec-scam/