"Send Money Immediately"... US Companies Fall Victim to

A criminal syndicate orchestrated a sophisticated fraud campaign targeting accounting and finance employees across the United States and Europe, successfully stealing over $129 million. Over an 18-month period beginning in July 2024, the group utilized advanced AI tools to impersonate corporate leadership and legal counsel to facilitate unauthorized wire transfers.

What happened

The attackers employed a multi-stage social engineering process. Initially, they contacted finance employees via email before initiating calls using AI-cloned voices of CEOs. These calls demanded immediate wire transfers for purportedly confidential transactions. To add legitimacy, an accomplice posing as a lawyer from a major firm would follow up, using a prepared script that cited regulatory terms and insider trading risks to discourage the victims from verifying the requests with colleagues. In some instances, the group escalated the deception by using CEO deepfakes during video calls.

Specific victims included a Missouri hospital chain, which lost $4.8 million, a British fintech company that lost $11.6 million, a Florida pet food company that lost $5.2 million, and a Massachusetts mutual fund manager that lost $4.6 million. The stolen funds were converted into cryptocurrency and distributed among the perpetrators. Three individuals—Sharon Hazan, Guy Sitrit, and Jacob Saul—were arrested in Spain and the UK between June and September 2025. They currently face charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, with potential sentences of up to 20 years per count.