An IT Professional’s Guide to Spotting Scammers

With the rise of cybercrime, it is important to stay vigilant and protect yourself from identity theft and other scams that want to steal your personal information. Fortunately, there are several measures you can take to ensure the security of your network and spot scammers before they can do any damage.

From installing cybersecurity software to regularly monitoring your network for suspicious activity, there are many ways you can protect yourself from scammers. This blog will discuss several ways to identify potential threats and stop them in their tracks.

Cybersecurity Strategies

The essential part of any cybersecurity strategy is awareness. Being aware means that you should expect scammers to try and break through your company’s firewalls and be prepared to thwart the attack. While there are many ways to increase your awareness, here are some quick tips that can help you recognize cyber threats and implement them into your strategy:

• Check for phishing attempts – Phishing is one of the primary techniques scammers use to penetrate networks. Phishmailists (a type of phisher) send out fraudulent emails designed to trick people into giving up their credentials or downloading malware. A typical email might ask for a password reset or a link to download an update for their software. To detect phishing emails, look for misspelled words, incorrect formatting, and unusual requests. If a request seems unusual, then there’s a good chance that it is a scam, and you shouldn’t respond with any personal data.
• Scan networks regularly – A security scan can help identify any potential weaknesses on your network, whether they be vulnerabilities in software, an infected machine, or a compromised account. A network scan can be as simple as checking the ports on your firewall to see if they are open to defining appropriate protocols for scanning machines that aren’t connected to the internet. Network scans often look for malware. In addition, they can find out what devices have been detected in a previous scan, which could be either infected machines or existing vulnerabilities in your network infrastructure.

Of course, email phishing, virus, and malware aren’t the only ways scammers can get your company’s sensitive information and use it for negligent purposes.

Spoofing and Other Telecommunication Scams

While email is one of the top ways to reach consumers, many businesses still use calling customers as a way to do business. One of the ways scammers try to steal sensitive data is by spoofing, which is disguising the number they are calling from and using the name or number from a familiar name. Using this technique, scammers can more easily reach a target on the phone because, with so many people on the “Do Not Call List,” consumers are reluctant to answer calls from unknown numbers.

Spoofing isn’t the only way criminals use the telephone to scan unsuspecting Americans. Senior citizens are often targeted in scams where callers pretend to be grandchildren needing money to bail them out of jail or pretending to be someone from the IRS threatening to arrest them for unpaid taxes. While these calls might not come into your place of business, scammers have pretended to be charities seeking donations and pretended to be local businesses looking to establish new relationships, but were ultimately scams.

Mail Fraud and Other Paperwork Scams

We know how vital network security is for your business. However, some criminal elements still rely on doing business the old-fashioned way by stealing sensitive data from your mailbox or trash receptacles. Scammers send a letter through the mail seeking donations or looking for investors for new ventures, and if you don’t have proper protocols in place for such expenses, you could become a fraud victim.

What about your paperwork? Do you have processes in place to deal with confidential information? One of the easiest ways to protect your company’s sensitive information is by having regular shredding procedures in place that are conducted by mobile on-site professionals that can safely shred your documents and hard drives in compliance with national data privacy laws.

Ready to Protect Your Company’s Assets? Contact Tie National to Get Started Today!

Tie National can help protect your company from scammers and other attempts to steal company assets and customer information. With more than 15 years of experience and expertise in serving small businesses with exceptional IT support, regardless of location, we can help your company with several, including:

• Help desk support
• Data security
• Cloud surveillance
• Business network solutions

Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can customize them to work within your budget. We’re serious about security at Tie National, so let us work for you! Call us today for a free consultation!