Australians are set to lose a record amount to scams in 2019, with projections from losses reported to Scamwatch and other government agencies expected to exceed $532 million by the end of the year. It is important to be vigilant both in our personal lives, and in business.
For Businesses – We have adopted the following measures and processes within our firm and recommend these steps to you;
- Always keep your computer security up-to-date with anti-virus and anti-spyware software and an efficient firewall.
- Ensure your business data back-ups are working.
- Make your staff aware of the scams and understand how they work so they can identify them.
- Adopt strict money transfer procedures, such as double-checking email addresses when receiving directions for payments. For all new bank account details, seek verification by telephone – call the number in your file and not the one shown on an email.
- Obtain cybercrime insurance through your business insurance broker. Fraudulent activities are not covered by normal business insurance.
Personal Cybersecurity – Click here to read the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s easy guide to securing your online information.
We encourage you to be mindful of the sophistication of cybercriminals. If any online or email behaviour seems out of the ordinary, it pays to investigate further. In many cases it has been a last minute phone call, or a face-to-face conversation which led to the scam being discovered.