Internet Marketing – Are YOU at risk of being scammed? – 2

Are YOU at risk of being scammed?
Expert reveals the tricks used by
online fraudsters that can fool even
the most tech-savvy – and the nine
steps you need to protect yourself

Setting a passcode to lock your phone
is crucial to ensure your data is
protected in case your device is stolen
or gets lost

Take a minute to stop and think about
the data you are sharing before you
share it. If you’re at all concerned
about the source of an email check it’s
authenticity, for example give your
bank a ring to see if an email is
really from them.

This is actually much harder than you
think given the sophistication of
phishing scams. Website and emails can
look really legitimate and from
recognisable sources such as banks or
government departments and it can often
be quite difficult to tell the
difference.

If in doubt, don’t open anything and
before disclosing any personal
information make sure you know who you
are dealing with. You can often spot a
fake link by checking the URL address
of a link – secure sites will begin
with https://, while many phishing
fakes will often just have http://,
with no ‘s’.

It’s so easy to have a mishap, to leave
your phone somewhere, lose it or have
it stolen.

Locking your phone is the
first line of defence and means if it
winds up in the wrong set of hands
there is a layer of defence.

When your
phone is locked a thief must first
crack your password to get to your
data.

Most email platforms, offer a function
where you can track when and where you
last logged in. This information can
usually be found in the ‘account’ or
‘settings’ function and makes it easy
to spot if there has been any
suspicious activity on your account.
Many will also let you set up two
factor authentication, meaning that
when you try and login from a new
device, you will need to provide a
unique code (usually sent as an SMS to
your phone) as well as your password.

When looking at tech to encrypt your
emails it’s really important to try and
keep it simple otherwise you’ll end up
getting bogged down. Cyber security
solutions for personal data have
marched on and a new approach is now
available that focuses on securing and
encrypting all data at its source,
using just one lock and key. This means
that even if someone gains access to
your data they are unable to read it
and find it completely meaningless.

The scale of cyber crime in the UK
Banks logged 34,128 cases of push
payment fraud in the year to July – a
rate of almost 200 a day.

Just £31million of the stolen £145million
was returned to customers, according to
trade body UK Finance.

Around a quarter of the total losses –
£36.6million – was a result of
impersonation fraud.

This is where
crooks pose as companies people trust
such as their bank, solicitor, telecoms
provider, HMRC or the police.

Victims
are then convinced to transfer their
money into another account under the
guise of keeping it safe. They almost
never see it again.

Others are tricked into making payments
to criminals posing as conveyancing
solicitors, builders and other
tradespeople.

Unauthorised fraud losses, where crooks
have hacked into your account or used
your bank card without your knowledge,
are down slightly at £358million for
the first six months of 2018.

In these cases victims are typically
refunded unless they have been
negligent with their password or PIN.

Also, Mark runs a programme called

Price Consulting, and he teaches
accountants/bookkeepers how to help
their customers with their pricing. 

Thank you for the positive response to
posts on this topic and the action taken.

https://www.wickersham.co.uk/a/7831/wWVxKzFL Silvia at IFRSbox. If you are in finance and not on her FREE list (WHY NOT?): http://www.ifrsbox.com/ifrs-kit/?ap_id=Profmoscow