Sadly, we have clients who have unknowingly been targeted by “professional” English speaking criminals who have hacked their main bank account resulting in financial loss. Unfortunately, this loss is real and permanent as banks do NOT compensate where internet banking passwords or screen shares are shared with anyone per banking regulations.
These hackers are incredibly sophisticated. They use elite level sales and psychological tactics through a warm and friendly voice, helping to solve an urgent issue (causing people to act without thinking). They build instant trust by sharing your own personal details, often from publicly available sources such as social media, Google searches and the like.
We urge extreme caution if you receive any inbound calls or emails suggesting you have an issue to fix. STOP and ask, “Am I expecting a call”? Why? If you have the slightest doubt HANG UP and call a friend, your kids, our office or the bank/utility provider (via the phone number on their website – not provided by the caller / email). Buying this time will not harm anything that is legitimately important. Scammers look for instant action.
As we have said before, use 2 factor authentication on everything that is important. Remembering passwords can be difficult. Consider a password protecting app. In 2023, we can no longer opt out of email or SMS codes given snail mail is also unreliable, hence we need to grow with the advances in technology.
