We’re here to help SMEs and Charities in the South West avoid being scammed by cyber criminals. It’s free to access our support and as Devon Chamber members, we’d love to help more of you stay safe from fraud and crime. Mark Moore, Director, shares his Top Three Tips for March 2023.
1. Beware of TOADs! They’re significantly on the rise. Telephone oriented attack delivery plays on our desire to help; whilst scammers might initially approach us via email, they’re increasingly inviting us to call a customer service rep for queries. And that person will gently, supportively, talk you through how to compromise your data. Be suspicious of unknown contacts, just as you would of unknown hyperlinks.
2. Turn on your two factor authentication (2FA)? It’s often a code which is sent to your phone, ensuring that a password alone won’t let others breach your account. Twitter have hit the headlines this month for discontinuing much SMS-based 2FA, but they’ve also disclosed that only 2.6% of their users have 2FA in place. For all of your important accounts – social media, Amazon, PayPal, etc – you should be going to user settings and activating it. Now.
3. Topical events always give rise to new scams, and the tragic earthquake in Syria/ Turkey was no exception. Look out for fake appeals on your social media feeds, and don’t necessarily trust websites that are at the top of the search rankings. Our advice is always to give directly via known or reputable sites, and if in doubt, a bit of research on sites like the BBC or gov.uk will often signpost you properly.
To join our community of organisations keen to avoid cyber crime, you can do so in less than a minute.
