“Shark Tank” Star Loses $400K in Phishing Scam

Exploit: Phishing
Individual: Barbara Corcoran
Industry: Real Estate
Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/6603601/barbara-corcoran-shark-tank-email-scam/

“Shark Tank” judge, Barbara Corcoran revealed that she lost nearly $400,000 when her bookkeeper was duped by a phishing scam.

Last week an invoice was sent via email from someone posing as Corcoran’s assistant to her bookkeeper. The email fraudster was in communication with the bookkeeper as they went back and forth before a payment for a renovation was approved and sent for $388,700.

Corcoran’s actual assistant realized something was awry after the bookkeeper sent a follow up email copying her. She noticed her email address was changed by one letter, a flaw unnoticed by the bookkeeper.

Corcoran stated, “The money was wired to the scammer yesterday and my bookkeeper copied my assistant, who was shocked to see her name on the correspondence. The detail that no one caught was that my assistant’s email address was misspelled by one letter, making it the fake email address set up by the scammers,”

Unfortunately for the “Shark Tank” star, recovery of the lost money is not expected to be possible but Corcorcan seems to be taking a positive outlook on the human error saying, “I was upset at first, but then remembered it was only money.”

With human error playing a role in over 95% of data breaches, it is imperative to have internal discussions and create awareness among staff, especially those that work in departments that are considered to be highly targeted by cyber criminals. It is very unfortunate news for those involved in this breach, but luckily the amount was not enough to be critical for the parties involved and recovery from the incident is possible.

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