Star Title Partners: Eleventh Circuit finds No Coverage for Social Engineering Fraud Loss under Cybercrime Endorsement to Cyber Protection Policy
By Chris McKibbin and Devra Charney On September 6, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision in Star Title Partners of Palm Harbor, LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance Company. In deciding that a social engineering fraud (SEF) loss did not fall within the coverage afforded under a Deceptive Transfer Fraud insuring clause, the Court construed the terms “employee,” “customer,” “client” and “vendor” according to their ordinary meanings. As the entity impersonated by the fraudster did not qualify as an employee, customer, client or vendor of Star Title, no coverage was available. The decision is notable as