It’s all too common for small businesses. They are becoming victims of “phishing”, the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. How does it work?
You get an email that looks amazingly real. Maybe it has a really professional signature or logo. Maybe it’s written in the style of someone you are used to getting emails from. But there is often a small indicator that you aren’t communicating with the person you think you are.
The topic of these emails often revolves around a few points:
- the email may state that there has been suspiecious activity or log in attempts
- the email is from someone you know well, but asks you to “help” them with an issue, without defining the issue
- the email says your account is on hold for billing problems
- the email may be generic or more intimate with things like “Hi Dear”
- the email contains a link to update payment info
- the email revolves around your amazon account, usually an email from someone you know, asking if you have an account, or an email stating your billing as failed (check for blurry images, this is a key point in Amazon phising emails)
These scams are becoming increasingly convincing. In our own office, we had someone reach out to one of our agents knowing that they volunteer for an organization, what title they held, and then imitated the leader of that organization through email asking for payments to be sent to a “vendor”.
This has happened to local veterinary clinics. It recently happened to a local one in, Peterboro, NH. It can happen to you personally or your business.
To protect yourself, keep up to date on how the scams are being handled and changing. And, make sure you have cyber insurance coverage. This is something that your agent should be able to provide you. The peace of mind and resources that are available, should you need them, makes this a necessity for everyone.
Have questions or want to learn more? We are here to help! Feel free to reach out to us by phone at (603) 273-0953, or by email at info@keslarinsurance.com. You can also visit our website, keslarinsurance.com, where we have tons of free resources at your disposal!
