BBB urges businesses and municipalities to be vigilant

[ALABAMA] October 28, 2026 – The BBB of Central and South Alabama is warning Alabama businesses and municipalities after another local business nearly lost over three-quarters of a million dollars to a business email compromise (BEC) scam. It’s the same type of scam that cost the City of Mobile $14.7 million earlier this month. Now that several Alabama businesses have been targeted, BBB is urging every business and municipality to check how it pays and gets paid.

Business Email Compromise is a scam where criminals pose as someone a business already trusts, like a vendor or a company leader, to get a payment sent to an account they control. It doesn’t need a virus, a bad link or ransomware – just research, patience, enough details to convince one person and a payment change that never gets verified. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, BEC was the second-costliest scam reported in 2025, with 24,768 complaints and more than $3 billion in losses.

“Our goal is simple: we don’t want another Alabama business to be next,” said Evey Owen, Vice President at the BBB of Central and South Alabama. “Before you pay any invoice that comes with payment changes, you should stop, pick up the phone and call the vendor at a number you already know. That one phone call can stop this scam in its tracks.”

How can I protect my business?

• Verify every payment change by phone. Call the vendor at a number you already have on file, never one provided in the email.
• Build a culture of verification. Train employees regularly on your approval process and trending scams.
• Require more than one approval. Use a multi-person approval process for large payments.
• Lock down email. Turn on multi-factor authentication for email accounts.
• Let your customers know. Be proactive by letting your customers know to never change your payment details based on an email and to always call you directly to confirm.

What should I do if it happens?

• Call your bank immediately. Ask it to recall the funds. Time is of the essence.
• File a complaint with the FBI at IC3.gov. You should do this regardless of the amount lost and include full transaction details.
• Report it to local police. Especially if you have lost money, they can file a report for your bank.
• Let the BBB know. File a report with the BBB Scam Tracker so they can warn others.