A 70-year-old Georgia man has been arrested in connection with a $103,000 phishing email scam that targeted a Connecticut manufacturing company, according to reporting by the Connecticut Post.
Police in Oxford, Connecticut say the victim company, Walz & Krenzer, received a fraudulent email impersonating a subcontractor and requesting updated bank payment details. The company later discovered the sender’s email address was slightly different from the legitimate subcontractor’s address, a common business email compromise tactic.
The company sent a payment totaling about $101,937 before realising the request was fraudulent.
Authorities arrested Daniel Boenke, 70, of Gainesville, Georgia. Investigators traced the stolen funds to a bank account connected to Boenke and an LLC registered in Georgia.
Police say surveillance footage and cellphone data showed Boenke withdrawing funds from multiple bank branches and later using a Bitcoin ATM, a pattern consistent with laundering stolen money.
He is being held on a $125,000 bond.
Why BEC Matters in Email
This case is a clear example of Business Email Compromise (BEC), where attackers impersonate trusted vendors or partners to redirect payments.
Unlike typical phishing scams, BEC attacks often:
- bypass spam filters
- contain no malware
- rely on believable business requests
For many organisations, invoice fraud remains one of the most costly and persistent email-driven threats.
Source
Connecticut Post “CT business scammed out of $103,000 was tricked by phishing email, warrant shows”
