24/7 Cyber Security Due Deligance

By Ben Young

Astute Wealth Management

When you think you have heard or experienced all of the possible fraud schemes, a twist on an old one pops up. This one is digitally aided and executed at nearly the speed of light.

Grandma gets a phone call.

“Your grandson was hit by a car and is being transferred to a hospital,” says a calm voice. “I am with the ambulance company and we get paid at the time of service. The costs is $250 and you can use PayPal or Zelle.”

Grandma responds not with “what happened” or “where” or “which hospital” or “will he be okay” and not even “what is the name of the ambulance service.” Instead, her instinctive, emotionally driven reaction is, “I don’t know anything about PayPal or Zelle. Can you take a credit card or perhaps a direct deposit from my bank account?”

“We can do either,” responds the voice. This wasn’t the voice’s first rodeo and was going to win in any of the four proposed methods of payment.

Grandma gives the caller her credit card number, “good thru” date and the CVV. The voice processes the payment and hangs up after securing the $250 and seeing how far the card limit can be pushed for purchases from the burner phone.

Grandpa walks in. “Wassup,” he says. Grandma tells him. Grandpa tells her to call the high school and check on the whereabouts of the grandson.

A few minutes pass and the school administrator says the young man is in class, looking good.

Grandpa calls the credit card company, relays the chain of events and puts a hold on the card.

Why did the perpetrator call the grandparents? Simple. The parents robustly posted pics of their trip on a popular social media website promoting they were out of town. It also was clear the grandson was staying with the grandparents during the weeklong vacay out of the country. The names of relatives and friends were easily found on the parent’s page on the site. Didn’t take long to cross-check phone numbers and relationships.

This tactic is known as “Vishing” and is one of the three popular contemporary “ings” scams along with “Phishing” and “Smishing.”

Phishing is the fraudulent use of emails to access a person’s computer and gain access to them personally as well as important bank, credit card and investment account data.

Shmishing is similar to Vishing but uses cellular phone texts to gain similar access and retrieve sensitive information.

Vishing, as presented herein, is the use of direct verbal/voice phone contact to reach into a person’s wallet or purse so to speak to gain entry to financial accounts.

These and related topics were covered during a recent Cyber Crime Zoom session Astute Wealth Management presented to interested clients.

The session covered many of the reasons for fraud as well as reviewing current techniques and suggestions for identifying scams and not falling prey.

Overall, the content demonstrated how scammers often play on greed and emotions and recommended actions to minimize their access to your computer, phone, financial accounts and heart.

Among the key moves one can take are:

Regularly updating security software and devices;
Using strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication;
Avoiding clicking on suspicious links or downloading unknown files;

* Protecting personal data and educating yourself on common cyber threats;

* Loading software such as Norton, McAfee or Webroot onto computers to aid in

encryption, detect fraudulent communications and deter and repel malware attacks;

Engagement of credit monitoring and data deterrence organizations like LifeLock and Aura to get alerts on mischievous account activity, and
Applying common sense about what you know to be true and education on techniques being used to get into your accounts

This is not so easy when the potential frauds can come in various nefarious forms.

According to data sources, 1 in every 99 emails is a Phishing attack. They are known to come from a suspicious sender, contain threatening demands and request personal information. The emails may contain if opened harmful attachments or links. When looking at your emails, separate those out that look unusual and contain mistakes and avoid the urge to click links or attachments.

There also is the direct cyber-attack, one which is aimed straight at your computer to extract key information, sensitive files and sometimes attempt to extort money from the source. It is imperative to be wary of all risks that allow infiltration of your computer such as public Wi-Fis and malware or ransomware.

In general, avoiding cyber attacks places emphasis on:

Using strong passwords;
Keeping software updated;
Using antivirus software;
Cautiously downloading only from trusted sources;
Backing up data;
Encrypting sensitive information, and
Not responding to unsolicited communication: like text, calls, emails and social media.

For more information about the topics presented, please contact Ben Young, founder of Astute Wealth Management at 530-677-6001 or ben@astutewealth.com.