BEC Global Insights Report: August 2026

Executive Summary

The findings in this report come from the results of active defense engagements with BEC threat actors. Every month, Fortra Intelligence & Research Experts (FIRE) conducts hundreds of these engagements to collect comprehensive intelligence about BEC tactics and trends to help better understand how the BEC threat landscape is evolving.

The primary findings for August 2026 detailed in this report include the following:

• During August 2026, FIRE observed a decrease of 16% in overall attack volume in comparison to the prior month.
• Gift cards was the most common cash-out method in August, totaling 47.4% of all cash-out methods.
• Amazon was the most requested of all gift card types, making up 40.9% of total gift card requests.
• FIRE identified 14 cryptocurrency-related scams and recorded 12 unique wallets used by scammers.
• The average amount requested from BEC wire transfer attackers was $51,453 in August compared to $44,100 in July 2026.
• 66% of BEC attacks were sent from email addresses hosted on free webmail providers compared to 34% of attacks sent from maliciously registered domains.
   

BEC Attack Trends

During the month of August 2026, FIRE observed a decrease of 16% in overall attack volume in comparison to the prior month.

In August 2026, Gift cards remained the most prevalent BEC cash-out method, accounting for 47.4% of all attacks, followed by advanced fee frauds (27.8%) and wire transfers (16.2%).

Gift Cards

During August, Amazon gift cards were the most frequently requested by BEC attackers, representing 40.9% of all gift card requests. Other commonly requested gift cards included Apple Store (27.3%) and Uber Eats (13.6%).

Cryptocurrency

FIRE identified 14 cryptocurrency-related scams during August, involving 12 unique Bitcoin wallet addresses. The requested amounts ranged from $943.84 to $120,000.00, with an average request of $16,178.85.

BEC Wire Transfers

Wire transfer attacks increased by 16% during August 2026 compared to July 2026. The average amount requested per wire transfer attack was $51,453 in August, representing an increase of 17% from the previous month's average of $44,100.

Analysis of requested amounts showed that 10% of wire transfer requests were under $10,000, while 60% fell between $10,000 and $50,000. Requests between $50,000 and $100,000 accounted for 28%, and 2% exceeded $100,000.

The most common bank types used for wire transfer mule accounts were major US banks (34.0%), regional US banks (34.0%), and international (non-US) banks (16.0%).

BEC Payroll Diversions

During August 2026, the most common bank types used for payroll diversion mule accounts were specialty banks (17.0%), major US banks (7.0%), and regional US banks (6.0%).

The top banks used in payroll diversion attacks during August included Green Dot/Go2Bank (42%), Citibank (8%), and SoFi Bank (8%), among 38 total banks identified.

BEC Infrastructure

In August 2026, 66% of BEC attacks were sent from free webmail providers, while 34% originated from maliciously registered domains. The use of free webmail decreased compared to 59% in July 2026.

Among registered domain providers, Google was the most prevalent, accounting for 67% of the 727 maliciously registered domains identified, followed by Microsoft and Italiaonline.

For free webmail providers, the top three services used were NameCheap, NameSilo, and Wild West Domains, collectively representing 42% of all free webmail-based attacks.

BEC Attack Locations

Geographic analysis of BEC attacks during August 2026 revealed that United States was the primary source, accounting for 51% of all attacks, followed by Nigeria with 18%.

¹ Attacker locations are identified IP addresses collected by beacons that are inserted into our communications with BEC actors. IP addresses that are overtly associated with VPNs or other proxies are removed from this dataset; however, there is still a possibility that a device associated with an IP address could be used as a proxy in other ways, so the location (particularly for those outside West Africa) cannot be deemed completely definitive.