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Spear-Phishing Attack Uses Fake Subpoenas To Steal From CEOs: Page 3 of 3

Richard estimated that the attack went out to about 15,000 to 20,000 executives, based on an approximate infection rate of about 10%, which resulted in about 1,800 confirmed victims of the attack. He said he could not discuss which CEOs succumbed to the scam, but said that they ran the gamut from mom and pop companies to fairly large enterprises.

Richard said that this form of targeted attack has been particularly popular among three cybercrime groups, two of which are Romanian and one of which is Russian. These groups have also used fake messages from the Better Business Bureau, the IRS, and the Department of Justice.

Attacks of this sort, said Richard, often last no more than a week. They target executives to gain access to their bank accounts, which typically have a significant amount of money. "It's a very quick hit," he said, noting that he has seen similar attacks result in bank account losses that range from $100,000 to $1 million in aggregate.