SOFIA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Cybercriminals tricked around 120 Bulgarian companies into transferring some 16 million euros (17.8 million U.S. dollars) into the wrong bank accounts in 2024, an official said here on Thursday.
Vladimir Dimitrov, head of the Cybercrime Directorate at Bulgaria's General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, said 10 million dollars was the largest loss incurred from this type of fraud, reported by a Bulgarian company last year. The lowest amount was 1,500 euros, Dimitrov said at the Business Forum Electroindustry 2025.
This type of crime is called "Changed IBAN" in Bulgaria, or "Business Email Compromise" (BEC) in other countries.
Dimitrov said that although his directorate dealt with 15 different cybercrimes, BEC was the biggest problem for businesses. "Almost every month we have companies that have been affected," Dimitrov said. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollar) ■
