Attackers send forged emails, social media messages, or compromise legitimate accounts to impersonate company executives and instruct finance staff to make urgent payments. This “CEO fraud” especially targets finance personnel and can cause enormous losses.
A classic example is Mattel in 2016: a finance employee received an email impersonating the new CEO, requesting a USD 3 million transfer to a Chinese account.
The email used the new CEO’s signature and followed standard business procedures, even referencing an actual partner in China, which convinced the employee it was legitimate. Fortunately, Mattel detected the anomaly in time, reported it, and managed to recover the funds.
Sensitive Data Theft:
Sometimes attackers are after information rather than money. In 2016, Snapchat fell victim when someone impersonated the CEO and emailed the payroll department, requesting employee salary data. An unsuspecting employee complied, leaking internal payroll details to an external attacker.
The company later confirmed this was a CEO impersonation scam and reported it to authorities. This highlights how non-technical staff, such as HR, can also be deceived by fraudulent executive requests.
Lesson 2: Business Email Compromise (BEC) / CEO Fraud
