The Rise of Social Engineering Fraud in Business Email Compromise

**Executive summary:** This Microsoft-partner article outlines how social engineering and BEC are used by multiple financially and politically motivated threat groups, profiling Octo Tempest, Diamond Sleet, Sangria Tempest, and Midnight Blizzard; it highlights their TTPs—including AiTM phishing, SIM swapping, supply-chain compromise, and MFA-bypass lures—and provides defensive recommendations such as MFA apps, endpoint protections, and user education.