On July 6, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals set off some fireworks in the insurance coverage litigation field when it found coverage for a “social engineering”/phishing scheme loss, bucking the trend among its sister courts. The appellate court affirmed a Southern District of New York decision that had been a relative outlier, finding coverage under a crime/fidelity policy for a scheme where fraudsters used spoof emails to trick company employees into changing wiring ... Keep Reading »
About J. Robert MacAneney
Eleventh Circuit Affirms No Coverage Under Computer Fraud Provision of Insurance Policy
On May 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in InComm Holdings, Inc. v. Great American Insurance Company. The Eleventh Circuit agreed that Great American’s computer fraud coverage did not apply to holders of prepaid debit cards who exploited a coding error in the insured’s computer system and fraudulently increased the balances on the cards which caused InComm to incur ... Keep Reading »
Fidelity Coverage for Social Engineering Scams: The Ninth Circuit Upholds an Authorized Use Exclusion
Losses from social engineering schemes continue to grow exponentially. According to FBI data published in early 2017, losses from these schemes totaled over $3 billion between 2013, when the FBI started tracking data, and the end of 2016. One recent estimate suggests projected growth to over $9 billion in 2018 alone. The problem is not going away; it's getting much, much worse. Under these schemes, perpetrators trick company employees into believing that they have ... Keep Reading »
AIG Won’t Have to Defend Carfax in $50 Million Antitrust Suit
On March 1, a New York appeals court ruled that American International Group, Inc. (AIG) need not defend Carfax, Inc. against a $50 million suit alleging the company monopolized the vehicle history report market. The decision affirmed the lower court’s determination that the matter did not fall within the insuring agreement and that, even if it did, it would be precluded from coverage based on the application of the policy’s antitrust exclusion. In May 2017, AIG ... Keep Reading »