“Well, we haven’t met! I’m Jamie,” she said in a tone three octaves higher than her normal voice. Since she was on a roll, she finished the rest of the introductions, and offered the men a beverage, which neither accepted.
Then our boss entered the room. “Gentleman, I’m Charles Baxter, the president and CEO of Delectable Edibles. I appreciate you getting here so quickly.” He extended his hand and shook both men’s hands. Then he gave each of them his business cards.
Charles glanced at Sydney and then at me. When he returned his gaze to the officers, he said, “The ladies can fill you in on everything that transpired.”
Sanchez said, “Let’s all sit down, and go over what happened.” Pete sat next to him, opposite me.
Jamie, who was on my left, repeated, word-per-word, the story she told Sydney and me a short time ago. Her eyes were glued to Pete the whole time. Sanchez listened intently, and Pete appeared mesmerized by the trollop.
Both policemen jotted down copious notes. I made it my mission to keep my eyes focused on the older man but failed miserably. I couldn’t help sneak a peek, or twenty, Pete’s way. I didn’t think he noticed, though. He was too busy ogling Jamie.
“Do you happen to have a copy of the email you received?” Pete asked.
“Yes,” Jamie said and then handed them each a sheet of paper. It was no coincidence the floozy’s fingers grazed Pete’s and not Sanchez’s.
The room fell silent as both men read the email. When they looked up a few seconds later Sydney said, “This is the part I don’t understand. The note was spot on. The tone is exactly how I write, including the way I address her.”
“That’s not surprising,” Sanchez said. “Regrettably too many people are under the misimpression that they’d never fall victim to a crime like this, because they expect the request for money to be an outlandish, poorly written note. And yes, sometimes that happens. However, in most cases, the requests are like this. Practically impossible to distinguish from a valid email and a trusted source.”
“I don’t understand how this happens,” Charles said.
“You’re dealing with a professional here, ” Pete said as he looked at Jamie instead of Charles, even though he was answeringhisquestion.
“People who perpetrate this type of offense don’t act quickly,” Pete explained. “After they identify a mark, they infiltrate a computer network. They take their time learning as much as possible about the people and the business.” He turned his attention to me. Sounding smug, he said, “You’ll need to secure your systems. All your users should change their passwords, pronto. You should check both Jamie and Sydney’s email accounts. I’d bet the fraudster created rules so certain emails between these two never hit their inboxes.”
“Thanks, but I do know how to do my job,” I said defensively.He is enjoying the fact this happened to me! Does he consider it some cosmic payback?
Pete arched an eyebrow. “I’m not insinuating you don’t. But in times like this, sometimes people don’t think clearly.”
“I always think clearly,” I replied and Sydney, who sat on my right, kicked me under the table. It was hard, but I bit my tongue and didn’t say anything further. It wasn’t easy to fight the urge to punch him in the nose.
Sanchez stepped in and said, “Ms. Ensworth, when we get back to the station, I will personally reach out to our IT contact at the county. They should be able to help you determine if you have any additional vulnerabilities.”
“Thank you very much,” I said to the older man. “I appreciateyourhelp.”
Charles’s cell phone buzzed, and he looked at the call. He stood up and said, “Gentlemen, I have to take this. If you wouldn’t mind stopping by my office before you leave…” and he stepped out of the conference room.
“You said this type of crime was common?” Sydney asked.
“Yes,” Pete replied. “We see it a lot, especially this time of year. The scammers are counting on the fact that people are preoccupied with the holidays and let their guards down.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I slammed my fist down on the table. “We’re professionals, not some elementary school kids giddy over what Santa’s going to leave at the bottom of our chimney.”
What is wrong with this guy? First, he basically calls me a horrible person because of events that began over thirty years ago. And now, he makes it sound like I become an incompetent buffoon during the holidays?
Pete let out a deep breath and held up his hands. “I never said you weren’t a professional. I was simply stating the facts. The highest instances of wire fraud occur this time of year. And they are not some one-off scam. They are usually part of an elaborate social engineering attack.”
“A social engineering attack?” Jamie asked as she leaned so far over the table it was a miracle her breasts didn’t touch the wood.
“Yes,” Sanchez said. “Most likely than not, you were not the only victim here.”
“I don’t understand,” Sydney said.
“I’ll break it down for you,” Pete answered her. Again, he kept his eyes fixed on sweet and sexy Jamie.
My leg bounced up and down nervously as he spoke.
“In conjunction with the thief identifying a company, or individual who executes frequent wire transfer payments like you, the perp also needs to identify someone to receive the payment. There are a lot of bad actors who prey on lonely people.”
