A Texas steel erector unwittingly submitted $870,000 in two payments intended for a fabricator to a bank account that was instead controlled by cyber thieves, who faked not only emails but also impersonated the fabricator's chief financial officer on a phone call, a recent lawsuit revealed.

None of the funds were recovered.

Information about the 2023 crime was contained in Rockdale, Texas-based Perry & Perry Builders' breach-of-contract lawsuit in federal court in Waco, Texas, against Cowbell Cyber Inc., which had provided a cyber risk insurance policy. The erector sought an additional $250,000 insurance claim payout above the $250,000 paid by the insurer.

A federal judge ruled in favor of Cowbell March 9 and dismissed the steel erector's motion, potentially ending the lawsuit.

Perry & Perry had claimed in its lawsuit that the payments, made only minutes apart, constituted two separate occurrences under the policy with each one qualifying for a $250,000 limit.…