U.S. authorities today said they helped in the arrest of 74 people on three continents for hijacking bank transfers using email fraud.

The takedown, part of a global crackdown on email scammers, was coordinated under the name of “Operation Wire Wire.” It included cooperation from Interpol, national police forces in Malaysia, Poland, Canada, Mauritius, Nigeria and Indonesia, along with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, the Secret Service and the Postal Inspection Service.

Of the 74 people arrested, 42 were arrested within the U.S. and 29 in Nigeria, all accused of being involved in “business email compromise” schemes that targeted employees with access to company finances and businesses working with foreign suppliers or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments.

The scam typically involves the accused impersonating a key employee or business partner after obtaining access to that person’s email account, or other similar methods. They’re all intended to induce an employee to wire money to an account controlled by the fraudsters while believing they are partaking in a regular, legitimate business transaction.

“This operation demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to disrupt and dismantle criminal enterprises that target American citizens and their businesses,” FBI director Christopher A. Wray said in a statement. “We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners around the world to end these fraud schemes and protect the hard-earned assets of our citizens. The public we serve deserves nothing less.”

Those arrested included a mixed bag of operators, ranging from some working as part of international criminal organizations, while others involved were individuals working alone.

The FBI estimates that BEC scams and variants including email account compromise attacks have resulted in a loss of more than $3.7 billion to U.S. companies.

Photo: amrosario/Flickr