In this episode of A.M.BestTV, Christopher Giovino, director,
forensic services, AON Global Risk Consulting, states insurers
are rewriting crime policies in response to “whale phishing,” in which
criminals fraudulently lure organizations into transferring money or
surrendering important information. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=phish515
to view the video program.
Giovino addresses what exactly ‘whale phishing’ is. “It is a form of
computer based fraud that involves executives, people in finance and the
transferring of cash, typically by wire from the United States or
off-shore to another off-shore account and then to another off-shore
account,” he said. “It is also called social engineering, and between
2013 and 2014, it cost companies over $214 million in losses.”
Giovino continues as to how this fraud is executed. “The financial
person (responsible for wire transfers) receives an e-mail from someone
representing himself as an executive in another company, requesting that
a specific person wire transfer money to a legitimate bank, and since
the e-mail has some familiarity in it to the receiver, he or she wires
the funds believing the request to be legitimate. Once the funds reach
the legitimate bank, within a day they are sent to an unknown account in
a foreign country and disappear.”
Giovino acknowledges that the industry is unsure how these scammers are
getting their information; however, the industry is responding by
rewriting crime policies and offering riders.
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Contacts
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Lee McDonald
Group Vice
President, Publication and News Services
(908) 439-2200,
ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com
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