CYBER SECURITY AWARENESS
Every business should be aware of current and common phishing scams.
The first step to cyber awareness is communication. Regular, consistent, and informative communication.
Everyone in your company needs to know what hackers are trying to do, and what role they can play in stopping them. The most common e-mail scams are from “employees” requesting a change to their direct deposit.
Emails to payroll or HR departments to change confidential information such as direct deposit information should be verified. Even though it may look like an official email from an employee, it could be from a scammer.
What does a scam email look like?
To: Payroll
From: John Smith
Hi,
I need to change my direct deposit for the next payroll. Here is my new bank account information. I need this set up right away.
Thanks,
Jonathan
So, you received one of these emails, what should you do?
Do not respond to the email address that made the request. Send an email to the employee directly with a direct deposit change form to fill out and send back. Or call the employee to see if they requested the change. This has become more prevalent because more employees work from home. Companies lose over 1 billion dollars a year with this scam.
The e-mail is made to sound urgent but friendly. There are some common tells in the email to let you know it’s a scam.
- It’s not written in the way the employee usually writes their emails.
- They may also not go by the name the email is signed off with.
If you get an email and you’re unsure if it’s a phishing or a real request, always contact the employee directly, separately from the email that came in.
Anthros Clients: Phishing scam training is available! Contact your Anthros team if you are interested in your employees taking this short course.
