NioCorp Developments lost $500,000 to an email compromise scam

NioCorp Developments, a Nasdaq listed minerals company developing a niobium, scandium and titanium project in Nebraska, disclosed that an email compromise had cost it roughly $500,000. The company said it identified the incident on February 14, 2025, and set out the details in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 19.

According to the filing, an unauthorized third party gained access to portions of NioCorp's email systems and used that access to redirect vendor payments to accounts controlled by the attacker. The company put the total of the misdirected payments at about $500,000.

NioCorp said it discovered the activity itself and promptly notified certain financial institutions and federal law enforcement in an effort to recover the money. It added that its investigation was continuing, that the full scope, nature and impact of the incident were not yet known, and that it had not determined whether the event would materially affect its financial condition or results, including whether any of the funds would ultimately be returned.

The company is pre-revenue and reported a net loss of $11.4 million for its 2024 financial year, which The Register noted made the missing $500,000 a significant sum in relative terms. NioCorp did not report any theft of personal information or any disruption to its operations.