You can take online classes for almost anything, including fraud.
From attending Yahoo Boys Bombin and Billing School to taking a few classes at Fraud University on Facebook, there is no shortage of mentors who can’t wait to teach you how to commit fraud.
And now, there are BEC mentorships, classes where experts help you navigate the complicated world of carrying out multimillion-dollar frauds.
$1000 Limited Spots Available – Cash Out Guaranteed
The advertisements tout, “You’ll be taught everything from getting company logins to all the types of transactions that can be performed with these logins.”
“Limited spots available,” so it is first come, first served for the relatively modest price of $1,000.
The mentor guarantees his work, promising to carry out the mentorship until his students achieve their first “cash out” against a victim company.
Online Classes Take Students Through Everything They Need To Know
As he prepares for his students, the mentor snaps a photo of his online setup: a ring light, two laptop computers, a large bottle of water, and an empty bottle of whisky.
“On set” he says, “Session will start in an hour”
Before class, he posts photos of some of the spoils of his work, perhaps to lure in students with all the wealth they will accumulate if they learn his techniques from them.
He comments on each photo he posts, “Grateful…” The pictures include luxury cars, watches, and views from his penthouse in Dubai.
Perhaps none of his students question why someone making so much money would be willing to teach a BEC class for a mere $1,000. Unless, of course, this is just a ruse to recruit them into a fraud ring.
Class is about to start; what will he teach them today?
Some Interesting Insights Into BEC Fraudsters’ Methods and Techniques
He freely posts advice on his Telegram channel as “freebies” to show his mastery of BEC. He’s not afraid of being caught. Why would he be? Telegram is notorious for not working with the police.
Here are some of the more interesting points he shares with his students.
#1: It’s a Fairly Long Process
Conducting a BEC fraud takes a long time. He provides the following method for conducting an effective BEC against UK companies.
#2: Patience and Surveillance Of The Company Are Key To Success
“People don’t understand that for BEC folk, this is a full-time job”, he says. “The extent to which they will make an income is extreme.
He even says he knows people who will work for companies for an extended period. Learning the business and building trust is paramount in BEC attacks.
With a payoff of tens of thousands or even millions of dollars, this is not surprising.
#3 – Spoofing a Companies Website and Email Is Important
One of the things he spends a lot of time on is instructing scammers on how to spoof company’s websites and emails.
One trick he teaches scammers is to spoof websites using a single letter in a different language. He uses an example below to show how its done.
Selling Stolen Microsoft Office 365 Credentials To Carry Out The Fraud
It isn’t until after you sign up for the class that you learn that your mentor will also want to sell you stolen credentials from Microsoft Office 365, which can be used to hack into business emails.
He sells these credentials because he claims this will make the BEC attacks more successful. Suppose you have admin-level access to a company’s Office 365. In that case, you can conduct all the necessary surveillance, monitor invoices, familiarize yourself with the employees, and learn how the executives communicate.
He sets up a shop to sell logins.
If you don’t want to buy the logins, you can buy his Office365 Full Spamming setup. You only have to add your leads; he will automate the rest for you on his “bullet proof RDP.”
His First Cashout from BEC Makes Me Happy
At the end of the day, he posts students who have successfully graduated from his BEC Mentorship program.
“It’s his first cash out from BEC”, he says. “That makes me happy.”.
The BEC Mentorship channel shows the lengths these scammers will go to make money from unsuspecting companies.
We can expect BEC attacks will only get far worse with deepfakes.