10 Business Email Compromise Statistics to Know in 2024

Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a type of cybercrime in which attackers target businesses and organizations through email-based tactics to deceive and manipulate employees into taking certain actions that benefit the attackers. This guide covers interesting business email compromise statistics you should be aware of.

Table of contents

• How did we collect this data?

• 10 business email compromise statistics

  • Business email compromise losses
  • Business email compromise scams

• Takeaway

How did we collect this data?

We compiled these statistics from credible sources, including reputable platforms like Statista, as well as comprehensive marketing reports from various renowned email marketing platforms. Our commitment to data accuracy ensures the reliability of the information we provide.

10 business email compromise statistics

Here are statistics for losses, scams, and future trends of business email compromise to help you understand the state of business email compromise in today’s world:

Business email compromise losses

How much losses do businesses incur with BEC? Let's understand these statistics:

• FBI Data identifies $51 billion in exposed losses due to business email compromise. (Source: FBI)

• 95% of Business Email Compromise losses were between $250 and $984,855. (Source: DBIR, 2021)

Source: Proofpoint

• 14% of business email compromises in the United States recovered none of their financial losses. (Source: DBIR, 2021)

• BEC was responsible for only 4% of breaches but has an average cost of $5.01 million per breach to businesses. (Source: Tessian)

Business email compromise scams

How many scams happen on average? And how much do these scammers make? Let’s understand these statistics:

• The American public submitted 791,790 complaints in 2020, a 69% increase from 2019. (Source: FBI)

• In 2020, BEC scammers made over $1.8 billion, more than any other type of cybercrime. (Source: FBI)

Source: Statista

• The biggest BEC scam of all time was a VEC attack against tech giants Facebook and Google that resulted in around $121 million in collective losses. (Source: Justice Gov)

• In 2020, Business email compromise (BEC) scams were the most expensive, with 19,369 complaints and adjusted losses of approximately $1.8 billion. (Source: FBI)

• BEC scams have evolved since 2013 when these attacks typically spoofed chief executive or financial officers' email accounts and requested wire payments to compromise personal and vendor emails. (Source: FBI)

Takeaway

Business email compromise can cost a lot of money, and the number is only projected to grow. It is important to protect the organization from these scams. These business email compromise statistics will help you understand the state of BEC in the market. If you think any of these statistics are inaccurate or irrelevant in any form or if you want to submit any relevant statistics, please email us at enquiries@mailmodo.com.