Be Careful – With the Advent of Coronavirus, Your Risk of Being the Victim of Cybercrime Grows!
With the abrupt halt to economic activity throughout most of the world because of Covid-19, individuals and businesses are scrambling to find a financial lifeline to hold themselves over until economic activity resumes. Governments are offering tremendous amounts of economic stimuli in the form of monetary subsidies, tax cuts, cheap or forgivable loans, and grants to stop the economic bleeding, maintain employment and provide money for necessities.
This calamity opens a plethora of opportunities for cybercriminals to steal funds, intellectual property, and personal and financial data. In addition to the worsening economic impact, it may also lead to reputational harm for individuals and businesses.
Cybercriminals prey on this type of global chaos and vulnerability because it provides opportunities to attack unsuspecting victims whose guard may be down in these desperate moments of need. Cybercriminals use sophisticated tools to manipulate victims to provide confidential and personal financial information (i.e. usernames, passwords, account numbers, social security numbers, names, etc…) about individuals or businesses that allow them to access bank and other financial accounts, as wells as financial, legal, and accounting advisors.
And, with businesses moving their workforce to work remotely, the security risks increase dramatically. More than ever, businesses must ensure that their employees take reasonable steps to secure their cyber environment at home and avoid bogus websites peddling economic assistance to the newly unemployed and businesses in need of capital.
Moreover, it is extremely important that individuals and businesses avoid providing any sensitive or personal financial information over the phone unless they know the individual with whom they are speaking, email information using encryption software, employ multi-step authentication tools when providing such information, employ anti-virus, firewall, and ransomware software, and confirm bank wire instructions by phone directly with the sender.
In the event that you are the victim of cybercrime, Waserstein Nunez & Foodman stands ready to assist – time is of the essence. We have assisted clients with, among other things, recovering money that has been (a) stolen from their bank account when their identity was stolen, (b) stolen from bank accounts due to fraudulent wire instructions, and (c) misdirected by cybercriminals from advisor’s accounts held for clients through email spoofing scams. The Foodman Firm provides real-world solutions to real-world problems.