FBI warns of surge in wire-transfer fraud

Fraudsters have also used spoofed e-mails to trick corporate workers into releasing sensitive data

Attempts at cyber wire fraud globally, via emails purporting to be from trusted business associates, surged in the last seven months of 2016, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a warning to businesses.

Fraudsters sought to steal $5.3 billion through schemes known as business email compromise from October 2013 through December, the FBI said in a report released by its Internet Crime Complaint Centre.

The figure is up sharply from the FBI’s previous report which said thieves attempted to steal $3.1 billion from October 2013 through May 2016, according to a survey of cases from law enforcement agencies around the