Scams to watch out for this summer

4 cyber scams to be aware of this summer from SWCRC

The South West Cyber Resilience Centre is a Police-led free resource for organisations in he South West. We provide monthly updates on cyber threats - and what to do about them. We help organisations to build their cyber resilience. Here are some tips on what to avoid this summer.

1. Watch out for emails from brands you trust. Brand impersonation: it’s messages from tech companies and delivery firms that you need to be wary of. They're often NOT who they say they are! Based on recent findings from Checkpoint and Proofpoint, scam emails in recent times have most frequently used the name of Microsoft, Amazon, LinkedIn, Google, DHL and Paypal
2. A supplier wants you to pay a new bank account? Double check first! Make sure you check – by phone – when someone asks you to change their bank details. Verizon have found that over half of the attacks from compromised email accounts took this form. A simple but unexpected message from someone you trust, might just mean that they’ve been hacked.
3. QR codes are cool again – but criminals are exploiting our trust in QR codes. QR codes are just weblinks, in a digital format. And you don’t always trust links, do you? This month we’ve seen emails which ask you to authenticate accounts by scanning a code. The site it takes you to will request your credentials but won’t be genuine.
4. Trying to save time with an online template or contract? Be careful if you’re looking for templates, contracts and agreements online. Cyber criminals know that they’ll be accessed by a business audience and will go to some lengths to get to the top of a search ranking and offer you free content. The files you download – especially if in a zip file – may contain more than word documents. Avoid using online templates and don’t download any files.

For more advice on what to look out for, join our community. Over a thousand businesses have already joined!

https://www.swcrc.co.uk/membership