CEO Fraud is a targeted attack in which an attacker impersonates a senior executive — typically via a spoofed or lookalike email address — to request an urgent wire transfer, gift card purchase, or sensitive information from an employee, relying on the target’s reluctance to question apparent executive authority.

**How It Works:**
The attacker researches the organization’s leadership structure and communication style, then sends a message appearing to come from a real executive, usually marked urgent and requesting discretion (“don’t loop in anyone else on this yet”) — a combination specifically designed to prevent the target from verifying through a normal channel.

**Real-World Pattern:**
A finance employee receives what appears to be an urgent email from the CEO, requesting an immediate wire transfer for a confidential acquisition, with instructions to handle it discreetly and not discuss it with colleagues. The isolation instruction is itself the attack’s key mechanism — it’s designed to prevent the one verification step that would catch it.

**How ProtectYourData Defends Against It:**
Business Email Compromise Simulation and C-Suite Dedicated Assessment & Coaching directly address this pattern from both sides — training finance staff to recognize and verify, and training executives on how their own communication style could be mimicked.

**Related Simulation:** Business Email Compromise (BEC) Simulation