Darkreading.com reported that the 281 criminals "stole more than 250,000 identities and filed more than 10,000 fraudulent tax returns... attempting to generate more than $91 million in refunds." The September 11, 2019 report entitled "281 Arrested in International BEC Takedown" included these comments from the US government:
...the arrest of 281 individuals around the world, including 74 in the United States, 167 in Nigeria, 18 in Turkey, and 15 in Ghana.
Today's charges are another successful example of our commitment to working together with both foreign colleagues abroad as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement partners here at home in the pursuit of those who commit cyber-related financial crimes.
...the FBI reported a 100% increase in identified global exposed losses related to BEC between May 2018 and July 2019. Between June 2016 and July 2019, there were 166,349 domestic and international cases of BEC; these generated $26.2 billion in total exposed monetary losses.
Sad to say the BEC continues with no end in sight!
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