Each month, the team at Eftsure monitors the headlines for the latest accounts payable (AP) and security news. We bring you all the essential stories in our cyber brief so your team can stay secure.
AI and crypto scams drive FBI cybercrime complaints to a record high
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 1,008,597 cybercrime complaints in its latest annual threat report, a record number that’s up from 859,532 the year before.
Phishing, extortion and investment scams topped the complaint list, and business email compromise remained a major driver of dollar losses. Americans over 60 years old reported roughly $7.7 billion in losses alone, up 37% year over year.
The surge signals that attackers are scaling their operations, often with AI assistance, and that the finance function remains a prime target.
Scams now cost Americans $119 billion a year, study claims
If the IC3 report sounded dire, other estimates put the numbers in an even more critical territory. New research from the Consumer Federation of America estimates that Americans lose at least $119 billion a year to scams, a figure well above official tallies.
The non-profit consumer group's estimate reflects growing agreement that reported scam losses undercount the real total, because most victims never file a complaint. For finance leaders, the headline dollar figure matters less than what sits inside it: business email compromise, invoice fraud and payment redirection are part of the same wave.
Regulators flag advanced AI models as new banking cybersecurity risk
At this week's IMF and World Bank spring meetings, regulators and central bankers raised concerns that advanced large language models, including Anthropic's new Claude Mythos Preview, could expose weak spots in banks' cyber defences.
Officials warned that increasingly capable AI systems could be weaponised against financial institutions. In particular, there are widespread concerns about automated phishing attempts, the scaling of social engineering, and the probing of authentication controls at scale. The discussion reflects a broader shift, which is that regulators are no longer treating AI risk as a future-tense topic.
AI tools have been both an opportunity and a threat for a while now, but April 2026 saw fears reach a frenzy as Anthropic claimed it was pausing a new release due to severe security risks. Read more about our thoughts on Claude Mythos.
Singapore arrests three teens in BEC scam against US remitter
Three teenagers have been arrested in Singapore over a US$2.89 million business email compromise scam that targeted a US fund remitter. Police say the trio set up shell companies and DBS corporate accounts to receive the stolen funds.
The scam unraveled when one of them tried to withdraw US$2.56 million in a single transaction, raising suspicions among DBS staff who alerted police. The rest had already been wired offshore.
