Pine Bluff School District loses £3.2m to BEC scam

According to THV11 News, Pine Bluff School District is reporting that a cyberattack cost the district millions after a December 17 incident. Officials said a wire transfer of more than $3.2 million was processed for what staff believed was a legitimate invoice tied to the construction of the new Pine Bluff High School. The district added that the company had not requested the invoice to be paid via a wire transfer, and that the breach occurred after hackers gained access to a district email account.

They inserted fraudulent wiring instructions into what appeared to be a normal email thread, enabling the transfer to proceed. The article frames the incident as a business email compromise, emphasising the phishing-like manipulation of authentic communications. No details are provided about subsequent recoveries or investigations beyond the stated figures.