Stop it before it happens: What scammers do & how they do it
The statistics are sobering: cybercrime was a $14 billion business in 2024. Worse, cybercrimes are no longer the work of teenagers in basements gaining access to others’ computers.
Dr. Doug Jacobson, director of the Iowa State University Center for Cybersecurity Innovation & Outreach, explained how cybercrimes occur.
“Tractors talk to combines; cows wear RFIDs,” Jacobson said. “All of this technology is interconnected and connected to the internet, and our adversaries look at those targets. In some cases, we don’t have any control over the information adversaries go after when data are held by a third party.”
On some farms, the IT staff is a young person who “knows a lot about computers.” While this isn’t necessarily a negative, it may place excess responsibility on someone who isn’t fully aware of the farm’s finances and business partners and the scope of scammers’ methods.
Farmers know that much of the information they rely on for daily operations is stored in the cloud, where it’s generally considered safe. However, daily farm operations often involve accessing stored information from a computer, and this is where problems can begin.
Adversaries prey on trust-based relationships. Thin margins add extra pressure for victims to attempt to recover funds and regain use of their computers. Many farms have a somewhat predictable cash flow, perhaps by the week, month or year, making it easy for a scammer to anticipate monetary inputs.
Common threats to agriculture include ransomware, viruses, phishing, spear phishing, credit card and bank fraud schemes, identify theft and government impersonation. Acting on fake business emails or other schemes can compromise both the farm’s computer and supply chains.
Ransomware is specialized malware that locks computer files or systems and demands payment to unlock. The user cannot access the computer, and when the scammer demands payment (ransom) to unlock, the system is further compromised.
Phishing emails are one of the most common attacks. These fraudulent messages impersonate an otherwise trusted company, person or government agency. The goal of phishing is to trick the recipient into disclosing sensitive information. These often include the use of fake logos or display names of trusted companies to gain credibility. The seemingly genuine emails impart a sense of urgency, perhaps informing the recipient of an account mistake or bank charge. The goal is to pressure the recipient to act quickly and without checking the source.
“There isn’t as much in email attachments as in the past,” Jacobson said. “We see email driving people somewhere to perform a download, and it will be malware. Most email systems are pretty good at stripping out malicious software in email. We now see email attachments convincing someone to take the next step, such as to a website to interact further.”
Spear phishing is a targeted attempt in which the scammer sends a personalized message to a specific organization or person. The attacker uses specific and accurate information to make the email appear genuine and something that warrants a response. Spear phishing gathers information from social media, company websites and public databases to create a genuine, trustworthy impression on the recipient. Artificial intelligence and multiple information sources make spear phishing easier.
Jacobson described the problem of business email compromise, which can play out in several ways. In some cases, the threat actor attempts to interfere with a valid relationship.
“You have a relationship with a supplier, and they will pretend to be that supplier,” Jacobson said. “They might say ‘We’ve made a business decision; we’re changing our bank and here’s the new bank routing code. From now on, submit all payments to this new bank.’”
The recipient will likely be instructed to provide current banking information to access what the scammer refers to as “their new bank.” Once the account number and routing number are in the hands of the scammer, they can withdraw funds and write checks on the account.
Business email scams are often successful due to scammers’ understanding of the parties involved and their relationships. In the past, scammers had to work hard to determine who was part of an organization and who the people in the organization deal with, then craft emails to convince the victim to act.
“As we’ve gotten better at building our systems, there are fewer mistakes in operating systems and computers,” Jacobson said. “People are the biggest vulnerability. It’s much easier for them to get you to transfer the money to them than it is to try to rob you.”
It’s quick and easy for scammers to use AI for business email scams. The scammer points AI at a website to build a detailed profile of a farm and then determines who the farm deals with. They may discover that the farm is in a business relationship with a local co-op, which means they can pull data from the local co-op, including logos.
“They use AI to build a very convincing message with logos and names of people,” Jacobson said. “They send that to the farmer to convince the farmer to change their bank routing code to the new bank they claim the co-op has switched to.”
He described a recent case in which an attacker gained access to an organization’s systems. They sent emails that appeared to have come from the organization informing recipients about their Microsoft accounts. When recipients attempted to sign in, they were redirected to a fraudulent website designed to harvest their credentials.
“The holy grail for a lot of these organizations is to change your bank routing,” Jacobson said. “That’s an easy transfer of money – they don’t have to do anything. It’s a predictable cash flow and they know there’s a lot of money moving. Scammers take advantage of thin market margins or anything that raises a sense of urgency. They target playing with emotions – fear, a sense of urgency and wanting to help and trust relationships.”
Part 2 will include information on how to safeguard computers and prevent cyberattacks.
by Sally Colby
