In today’s digital age, cyber fraud has become a significant threat to individuals and organisations alike. Understanding the various forms of cyber fraud and how to protect oneself is crucial in mitigating these risks.
Phishing emails on the rise
One of the most common types of cyber crime is phishing emails. They involve criminals targeting businesses or individuals, usually with the intent of stealing money. As the risk from phishing emails continues to rise we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some points that we hope will keep you safe.
Beware of the “our bank details have changed” email
A very common email is one that informs you of a change to a supplier’s bank details. Perpetrators hope that recipients will simply amend their BACS payment without checking with their supplier to verify the change first. If you receive an email like this, always telephone your supplier to check it is legitimate. Similarly, if you receive a “change of bank account” email that appears to come from Hillier Hopkins, please call your usual Hillier Hopkins contact.
Be very suspicious of the “click this link or view the attachment” email
Often, criminals will go to great lengths to make their emails appear to come from trusted individuals or organisations. Unfortunately, no organisation can completely eliminate the risks of these incidents. Unexpected emails from someone asking you to open an attachment or follow a link to a document, should be treated with the utmost suspicion. These types of messages are intended to trick victims into entering login and password information.
What to look out for
Always be suspicious of emails that:
- contain grammatical errors or language that does not quite “feel” right.
- ask you to do something out of the ordinary, like open an attachment or download a file.
- are from a contact that you do not recognise or with whom you do not usually correspond.
- are from a ‘spoofed’ email address (for example where the letter ‘s’ has been added to a domain name), making it appear that the email has come from a legitimate source. In the case of Hillier Hopkins, emails from us will always come from the domains hhllp.co.uk or hhllpmail.co.uk
- are from spoof websites, asking you to provide information or details.
What should you do?
If you receive any emails you suspect of being a phishing email:
- Do not interact with them.
- Do not click any links or attachments.
- Do not make any payments.
If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of an email, always call the person you usually deal with at that company to check the legitimacy of the email and report it to your IT department if you have one.
If you think that you may have interacted with a phishing email, we recommend that you contact your IT department and/or change your password right away using complex passwords and multi-factor authentication where possible.
Questions or Concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns about anything in this update, please contact your usual Hillier Hopkins adviser or email hi@hhllp.co.uk.