Social engineering incidents
277 entries spanning 1995 to 2026. Filter by how the attacker reached the human, what it cost, and whether AI was involved.
Crunchyroll support tickets stolen via compromised BPO agent SSO account
Crunchyroll · United States
On 12 March 2026 an attacker used a compromised Okta single sign-on account belonging to a support agent working for outsourcer Telus International to reach Crunchyroll's Zendesk instance. The attacker claimed roughly eight million support ticket records, about 6.8 million with unique email addresses, containing names, credentials, email and IP addresses, locations and ticket contents. Access was revoked after 24 hours. A $5 million extortion demand went unanswered.
SoundCloud hit as real-time vishing kits drive browsers through SSO logins
SoundCloud · Germany
A voice-phishing campaign discovered in mid-December 2025 and running through January 2026 broke into single sign-on accounts in real time. SoundCloud was among the named victims, with roughly 36 million users affected, about 20% of its user base. Betterment was also named, with an attack dated 9 January 2026. Okta researchers identified at least two phishing kits with dedicated panels impersonating Google, Microsoft, Okta and cryptocurrency sign-in flows, and Sophos tracked around 150 malicious domains.
WPP executives targeted by deepfake Teams meeting impersonating CEO Mark Read
WPP · United Kingdom
WPP chief executive Mark Read disclosed in an internal email reported in May 2024 that fraudsters had created a WhatsApp account bearing his photograph and used it to arrange a Microsoft Teams meeting with another senior WPP leader. During the meeting the attackers played YouTube footage of Read and used a voice clone, and impersonated him in the meeting chat, in an attempt to set up a new business venture and solicit money and personal details. WPP said the attempt was prevented by the vigilance of staff.
Nikkei America employee wires $29 million on fraudulent management instructions
Nikkei Inc. (Nikkei America) · United States
Japanese media group Nikkei disclosed in October 2019 that an employee at its US subsidiary, Nikkei America, had transferred about $29 million to a bank account controlled by fraudsters the previous month. The employee acted on instructions from someone impersonating a Nikkei management executive. Nikkei reported the matter to authorities in the United States and Hong Kong and said it was working to recover the funds.
Pathé Dutch branch wires €19 million in fake CEO acquisition scam
Pathé (Netherlands branch) · Netherlands
In March 2018 fraudsters impersonating the chief executive of French film company Pathé's parent persuaded the Dutch branch's leadership to make a series of payments totaling more than €19 million for a purported acquisition of a Dubai-based company. Branch director Dertje Meijer and CFO Edwin Slutter were both dismissed after the loss surfaced. An external investigation cleared them of involvement, and Slutter later won partial relief in a wrongful-termination suit.
Cinema group Pathe loses EUR 19.2 million to CEO fraud; Dutch executives dismissed
Pathe (Pathe Nederland) · Netherlands
Between March and May 2018 the Dutch arm of the French cinema chain Pathe transferred about EUR 19.2 million in a series of payments to accounts in Dubai, acting on emails purporting to come from Pathe's French head office. The company dismissed the managing director and financial director of Pathe Nederland; a Dutch court ruling later published details of the case and upheld the dismissals.
Milwaukee Bucks employee sends players' and staff W-2s to an impersonator
Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) · United States
The NBA's Milwaukee Bucks disclosed in May 2016 that an employee had emailed 2015 W-2 tax documents for players and staff to an unknown party in response to a message impersonating the team's president. The documents included names, addresses, Social Security numbers and compensation figures. The team offered three years of credit monitoring to those affected.
Sony Pictures destructive hack preceded by fake Apple ID phishing emails
Sony Pictures Entertainment · United States
On 24 November 2014 Sony Pictures employees found workstations wiped and a ransom-style message on screen; terabytes of internal email, films and personnel data were later leaked. Researchers from Cylance presenting at RSA Conference 2015 said they found a phishing campaign in the months beforehand in which Sony staff, including senior executives, received fake Apple ID verification emails designed to harvest passwords. The FBI publicly attributed the attack to North Korea.
AP Twitter account hijacked, fake White House bombing tweet jolts markets
The Associated Press · United States
On 23 April 2013 the Associated Press's main Twitter account posted a false report of two explosions at the White House injuring President Obama. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped roughly 143 points in minutes before recovering once AP disavowed the tweet. AP said the account takeover was preceded by phishing attempts against its corporate network; the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility, a claim that was not independently corroborated at the time.
Entry types: Incident, Campaign, Benchmark. Aggregate agency statistics are kept as benchmarks and are never summed into the counters. Methodology. Machine-readable version of this page: global-social-engineering-impact-da.vercel.app/api/incidents?sector=Media+%26+Entertainment.