The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report paints a sobering picture: cyber-enabled fraud and related crimes reached new highs, with losses soaring to $16.6 billion - a 33% increase from 2023. Among the most devastating threats are business email compromise (BEC), wire fraud, investment scams. Noteworthy among these scams: each relies on social engineering and exploiting people, not technology. Critically, artificial intelligence has made it trivial to conduct convincing social engineering attacks.

The 2024 Threat Landscape: What the IC3 Report Reveals

• Business Email Compromise (BEC): Over $2.7 billion in losses, making it one of the most financially damaging cybercrimes reported.
• Investment Fraud: Topped the charts at $6.6 billion in losses, often intertwined with sophisticated social engineering and payment diversion schemes.
• Wire Fraud: Continues to plague organizations, especially those managing large funds or frequent transactions. Financial firms and real estate remain prime targets.
• Rise of AI-Powered Scams: The IC3 report and industry experts note a surge in deepfake-enabled fraud and AI-driven phishing, increasing the difficulty of detection and prevention.

People AND Technology

The crimes highlighted in the FBI report, and that Conduit sees weekly, are not IT or “cybersecurity” problems. They are organizational problems that must be solved in a cross-functional way. For our current clients, Conduit Security stands out as a critical line of defense, especially for investment managers, fund administrators, and businesses handling high-value transactions.

How Conduit Security Directly Addresses These Threats

1. Codified Best Practices and Technical Controls As the IC3 report and Conduit’s own experts emphasize, most victims of wire fraud had policies in place but lacked technical controls to guarantee compliance for every payment, every time. Conduit Security’s software automates and enforces best practices for payment verification and validation, ensuring that every transaction undergoes rigorous, repeatable checks.
2. Smart Risk Intelligence Conduit’s platform grades each transaction based on its unique risk profile, using real-time data checks against known threat indicators. This proactive approach allows teams to spot suspicious patterns and intervene before funds are sent.
3. Transparency, Accountability, and Auditability A core weakness exploited in BEC and wire fraud is the lack of verifiable audit trails. Conduit creates an immutable diligence file for every transaction, allowing executives and auditors to review the actual verification steps taken and not just rely on emails or internal logs that can be spoofed or manipulated.
4. Secure Communication and Verification The IC3 report and Conduit’s leadership highlight the dangers of relying on unsecured channels (such as email) for payment instructions. Conduit’s system enforces secure callback and verification procedures, ensuring that payment details are confirmed through trusted, auditable means.
5. Continuous Education and Agility With AI-generated fraud accelerating, Conduit recognizes that yesterday’s defenses may not stop tomorrow’s attacks. The platform is constantly adapting, incorporating new threat intelligence and best practices as the landscape evolves.

Real-World Impact: Trusted by Industry Leaders

Conduit Security’s approach is trusted by some of the world’s largest asset managers, real estate firms and corporations. The platform has safeguarded billions in transactions, prevented millions in losses, and maintained a flawless record - proving that robust technical controls, combined with expert guidance, can dramatically reduce the risk of the most damaging and common frauds.

“We decided to partner with Conduit because they made our process more transparent and secure. The workflow implementation was seamless and operationally efficient.” —Controller, Multi-strat Hedge Fund

Conclusion: Proactive Defense in a High-Stakes Era

The 2024 IC3 report confirms that cyber-enabled fraud, especially wire fraud and BEC, remains a top threat to businesses. Conduit Security addresses these risks head-on by supporting finance teams with embedded technical controls, smart risk intelligence, and auditability into every step of the payment process. As criminals become more sophisticated, Conduit ensures that organizations can protect their assets, reputation, and future in an increasingly hostile digital world.