CEO fraud, or business email compromise, is social engineering at its most manipulative. A seemingly innocent message from the boss arrives — and with it, an urgent request. Approve a payment. Share credentials. Buy gift cards. It’s believable, familiar, and designed to catch employees off guard.
Impersonation scams like this continue to drain billions from businesses. Why? Because they don’t break in. They blend in.
The psychology of the scam
These attacks don’t rely on malware or brute force. They rely on trust. The attacker mimics an executive’s tone, name, and even email address — often changing just a single character. The request lands with urgency and just enough context to feel legitimate.
Timing matters too. Many scams are sent before weekends or public holidays, when people are busy or support teams are offline. It only takes one quick response for the damage to be done.
What the filters miss
As defences improve, attackers adapt. Links are buried in attachments or cloud previews. Keywords are avoided altogether. That makes it harder for traditional filters to detect anything suspicious.
Training employees to spot red flags is still important — but it’s not enough. You need email security that understands nuance, detects intent, and adjusts in real time.
A smarter way to stop impersonation
TrustLayer combines multiple layers of protection to keep impersonation attempts from slipping through:
It’s not about more alerts. It’s about the right signals reaching the right systems — fast.
Better protection, built in
CEO fraud is a security problem, but it’s also a people problem. That’s why our platform goes beyond pattern matching. It understands behaviour, context, and environment — so users stay productive, and attackers stay locked out.
Because protecting your people shouldn’t depend on them spotting the con.
Tired of logging into lots of different tools that don’t talk to each other? TrustLayer One gives you mail, web, user and SaaS security that actually works together. No patchwork, no platform fatigue. Just what you need to protect your business and keep your stack under control.
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