Different types of identity theft and what to do about it

Most identity theft attempts are made by fraudsters disguising themselves as a trustworthy person. With just a little bit of common sense and caution, you can make sure that you don’t become a victim of identity theft.

PHISHING is an email in which you are urged to provide personal information of any kind by clicking on a fake link. The fake link will take you to a company website that looks genuine but is not.

Watch out for emails that:

  • Ask you to leave your card or bank account number.
  • Ask you to provide your password.
  • Asking you to click on unknown links
  • Asking you to verify your account information
  • Threatening to close your account immediately if you don’t take action
  • Tempts you with unlikely offers
  • Contains poor grammar, spelling or words in the wrong order
  • Contains strange headlines or a non-personal address in the email

How to avoid:

  • Never click on links in emails from people you don’t know
  • Never give out your personal information or click on links that read “click here to confirm your information.”

Remember: serious companies never ask for personal information by sending an email.

SMISHING is when someone tries to trick you into giving them your private information via a social messenger app or SMS message. It mimics a regular text message and may even be sent from someone you trust. When that happens, their accounts may have been hacked.

The information a smisher is looking for can be anything from online passwords to your social security number, your bank account information, or credit card information.

How to avoid:

  • Don’t reply to text messages from people you don’t know.
  • Don’t reply to a number that looks odd
  • NEVER give out your bank account number, online passwords or credit card information to an unknown caller — even if they say that they are calling from a company that you know of.
  • Don’t click on links in a text message unless you know the person it’s coming from.

VISHING (also called scam calls) is when someone is calling you to your home phone number, to your smartphone or via online services like Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom. Once again, the aim is to get credit card details, birthdates, account sign-ins, or sometimes to harvest phone numbers from your contact lists.

In a vishing attempt, the caller pretends to be from the government, a reputable company or organization, a personal banker, and many other things.

How to avoid (the advice is almost always to hang up the phone):

  • Don’t answer your phone when you receive phone calls from unknown numbers.
  • Never call phone numbers that are provided in emails or text messages
  • Never give any information to a caller unless you’re sure of who they are. Hang up.
  • Hang up the phone if you are not sure why the person is calling
  • Beware if someone is calling you to sell or promote something. Hang up.
  • Beware of telemarketers. Hang up.
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Covr Security recognized as a Global CYBERTECH100 2020 company.

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The CYBERTECH100 is an annual list of 100 of the world’s most innovative CyberTech companies, of which Covr Security is recognized in 2020.

The list announces the world’s most innovative tech companies which provide cyber defence to financial institutions to combat cyber attacks and protect their data.

Read more: https://fintech.global/cybertech100/

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Coronavirus pandemic and cybersecurity — keeping safe in a time of uncertainty

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As the COVID-19 pandemic keeps spreading, it rapidly changes how we work and play. And — in the wake of the devastation, cybercriminals are heartlessly taking advantage of our digital weaknesses and fear of contracting the disease.

As the pandemic drags out, and we continue to stay isolated, we tend to interact with online services more than ever before. We order take-out from services like Foodora or Uber Eats, log in to our bank accounts or governmental services more often, search for information about the disease, and sign up for more streaming services. We also do online searches on popular topics like Corona and COVID-19. This behavior introduces golden opportunities for scammers to deploy social-engineering attacks.

Social-engineering attacks target individuals. Attack types are, among others, bogus emails (phishing) with malicious links to hospitals or text messages (smishing) with fake links to a donation campaign. It can also be luring people into clicking on suspicious links in the search for information, and even deceitful phone calls (vishing).

Remote work has its challenges.

The sudden uprise in remote work over the past months also means increasing security risks to companies. People are no longer behind firewalls or protected by the company’s security systems. One example of significant risk is that employees are ignoring basic security protocols to get things done when, for instance, handling sensitive company information from home without the protection of a VPN software. This leads to dangerous behavior due to a lack of understanding of digital threats.

To take precautions as a company and as a user is paramount, and the time for new approaches to digital security is imminent, not just under these extraordinary circumstances, but for the foreseeable future.

Patrik Malmberg, CEO at Covr Security

Patrik Malmberg, CEO at Covr Security

About us.

We are a team of experts in cybersecurity that would be delighted to help you find solutions to your security challenges. Get in touch with us, and we’ll make sure you’re safe!

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