In whaling, fraudsters target the ”big fish” – the CEO, the CFO and other members of senior management. They gather targeted information about managers in advance and later pretend to be them.
21.04.2026 –Whaling combines CEO fraud, spear phishing and social engineering – often with major financial loss. Criminals collect snippets of information about potential victims on all kinds of platforms across the internet. Employees with access to payment or card data are then asked to make large transfers under time pressure. This often involves the use of sophisticated AI voice cloning.
How to prevent whaling:
- Do not disclose sensitive and personal information to strangers
- Be cautious when sharing information on social networks such as LinkedIn
- Train employees regularly on phishing (incl. simulations)
- Use multi-factor authentication
- Define clear processes for cash transactions
- Publish as little personal information about managers as possible
- Keep IT security up to date (VPN, antivirus protection, etc.)
Awareness is the best protection.
Read more News
It pays to be sceptical
Fisherwoman LINDA has been helping to protect against phishing for over a year. Read more
QR codes: convenient, but not without risk!
Whether for paying bills, at car park ticket machines or in restaurants, QR codes have become an… Read more
Beware of rotten eggs in your inbox!
It’s not just chocolate bunnies that hide at Easter – phishing emails and attempted scams are often… Read more
Better protection thanks to 2-factor authentication
2FA sounds complicated – but it’s one of the easiest ways to secure your online payments. Read more