Stop Email Scams - How To Recover Money Lost To Cybercrime
Have you ever received a business email from your boss or a big client asking for money urgently, and felt something was off? You are not alone! For the past several months, with all the chaos that is going on in the world, cyber criminals have been acting even more aggressively, engaging in online fraud that could cost you thousands of dollars. One of the scams we have seen the most is email phishing for wire transfers.
The scam – it all starts with an email.
It all starts with an email from someone you know, such as your boss or a big client, someone with authority, asking for a wire transfer urgently. They either need you to make a wire to the instructed account or reroute a prearranged wire to a different account, and they make it very clear that it has to be done immediately.
This feels fishy, what is happening?
Your gut told you that it was weird that your boss needed money so urgently. Your internal alarm bells were going off, and you were wondering what was going on, but you didn’t want to let your boss down, or be the one that slowed the process down, so you clicked the send button on the bank website and sent the wire.
Then you called your coworker about this odd email request. Your coworker said: “this happened before, it was from a hacker with similar email address.” “Wait, what?! That was from a hacker and I just wired out thousands of dollars?” Yes, sh* happens! Don’t just panic yet, you still have a chance to trace the money back.
Immediate action – contact your bank to recall the funds and report the crime to FBI
The first thing you need to do is to contact your bank as soon as you can! Tell your banker what happened and ask them if they can still put a stop on the wire. The sooner you let the bank know, the better chance you have to get the money back.
Next, and urgently, engage the FBI. File a complaint on FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (known as IC3), this division specializes in internet crime, including wire fraud, phishing emails, etc. After you complete the online complaint they will call you back to start the investigation.
Just remember, the faster you report the crime to your bank and the FBI, the better the chances of getting the money back.
Now, what can you do to make your company more bulletproof to cyber crimes going forward?
Within the company – increase security
1. Email: enable two-factor authentication on email accounts
To increase security, you can start with turning on two-factor authentication for all employee email accounts. Requiring the user of a second “factor”—often a code sent to your phone number via text at login time—adds an extra layer of security to the process. If your password is comprised, you still have your phone to stop criminals from logging into your email accounts.
2. Banking: require approval from two people
As a best practice for your company, implement a dual approval process for banking transactions. Dual approval means requiring two separate people to authorize a transaction: one prepares the transaction, and one checks and approves it. Two pairs of eyes are better than one! This dual approval process is used to identify any possible fraud attempt before money leaves your account.
3. Education: teach employees about cyber crime
Your employees are your biggest help in preventing cyber crime from happening—if they are equipped with the proper knowledge. Teach employees what cyber crime looks like by providing them with real case examples, showing them how to identify phishing emails, and how to respond to these incidents. It becomes way easier for employees to identify threats when they know what to look for. And don’t forget, if you ever feel fishy about an email inquiry, just pick up the phone to call the other party directly to verify their identity.
Takeaway:
If fraud happens, contact your bank and the FBI IMMEDIATELY to get help on tracing the money. Internally, in your company, you need to equip your employees with proper knowledge of cyber crime, give them the right tools to make online communication more secure, and add a dual approval process for online banking. With these steps implemented, you can relax a little knowing that you’ve made your company a more secure place and hopefully cyber crime-free.
