BEC Global Insights Report: June 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 June 2026 detailed in this report include the following:

• During June 2026, FIRE observed an increase of 22% in overall attack volume in comparison to the prior month.
• Gift cards was the most common cash-out method in June, totaling 59.9% of all cash-out methods.
• Apple Store was the most requested of all gift card types, making up 53.6% of total gift card requests.
• FIRE identified 32 cryptocurrency-related scams and recorded 28 unique wallets used by scammers.
• The average amount requested from BEC wire transfer attackers was $71,295 in June compared to $54,138 in May 2026.
• 72% of BEC attacks were sent from email addresses hosted on free webmail providers compared to 28% of attacks sent from maliciously registered domains.

BEC Attack Trends

During the month of June 2026, FIRE observed an increase of 22% in overall attack volume in comparison to the prior month.

In June 2026, gift cards remained the most prevalent BEC cash-out method, accounting for 59.9% of all attacks, followed by advanced fee frauds (22.4%) and wire transfers (10.0%).

Gift Cards

During June, Apple Store gift cards were the most frequently requested by BEC attackers, representing 53.6% of all gift card requests. Other commonly requested gift cards included Amazon (32.1%) and iTunes (3.6%).

Cryptocurrency

FIRE identified 32 cryptocurrency-related scams during June, involving 28 unique Bitcoin wallet addresses. The requested amounts ranged from $950.00 to $2,500.00, with an average request of $1,902.69.

BEC Wire Transfers

Wire transfer attacks decreased by 7% during June 2026 compared to May 2026. The average amount requested per wire transfer attack was $71,295 in June, representing an increase of 32% from the previous month's average of $54,138.

Analysis of requested amounts showed that 5% of wire transfer requests were under $10,000, while 66% fell between $10,000 and $50,000. Requests between $50,000 and $100,000 accounted for 15%, and 14% exceeded $100,000.

The most common bank types used for wire transfer mule accounts were regional US banks (41.0%), major US banks (30.0%), and specialty banks (18.0%).

BEC Payroll Diversions

During June 2026, the most common bank types used for payroll diversion mule accounts were regional US banks (15.0%), online banks (12.0%), and credit unions (8.0%).

The top banks used in payroll diversion attacks during June included SoFi Bank (24%), Cross River Bank (10%), and Green Dot/Go2Bank (10%), among 50 total banks identified.

BEC Infrastructure

In June 2026, 72% of BEC attacks were sent from free webmail providers, while 28% originated from maliciously registered domains. The use of free webmail increased compared to 62% in May 2026.

Among registered domain providers, Google was the most prevalent, accounting for 68% of the 1,318 maliciously registered domains identified, followed by Microsoft and Italiaonline.

For free webmail providers, the top three services used were NameCheap, Squarespace, and NameSilo, collectively representing 44% of all free webmail-based attacks.

BEC Attack Locations

Geographic analysis of BEC attacks during June 2026 revealed that United States was the primary source, accounting for 33% of all attacks, followed by Nigeria with 28%.

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.