Suspicious messages, calls, or ads intended to defraud recipients of their money and personal information

Cybercriminals frequently attempt to cheat well established businesses and persons through email, social media, phone calls, or text messaging. These criminals may pose as someone or a group you believe you know and should trust or are familiar with.

Their calls and messages aim to trick business owners into doing certain things, like:

• Paying fraudulent invoices or changing payment details for legitimate invoices.
• Revealing account details, passwords, and bank/MFS information (sometimes known as ‘phishing’ scams, cybercriminals can mimic official branding and logos from banks, services, and websites to seem legitimate)

Which channels do attackers use?
Social media, phone calls, emails, and text messages.

Scams involving phishing are not messages and calls only. They are getting more advanced and challenging to detect. Be wary of demands for winning lotteries, job opportunities, suspicious activities in bank accounts, and inquiries for login information.

Who are generally the targets of phishing?
General population and Business Owners

Scams might target a single individual or be delivered to thousands of recipients. Criminals will, nevertheless, frequently employ certain methods to deceive your workers.
They may convey the following:
● They may communicate and claim to be from an official or a senior member of the company
● “Are you informed that there is an issue or that you only have a certain amount of time to react or pay?” With such a statement, they may have a product offer, but to get the benefits of the offer, they might ask to send x amount of money or some info to them.
● Do you feel anxious, optimistic, or interested about the message or the call? They can influence or impress you by mentioning some benefits or can make you feel anxious by mentioning any bad news related to your love ones
● Their messages might provide a good bargain or promote something that is in low supply
● There could be any current news stories or significant events mentioned in the message

How to Save yourself from Phishing Scams

● If you receive any suspicious messages, calls, or emails, check to make sure whatever the communication is conveying is legitimate before responding to it. If needed, ask someone you know who’s experienced with internet use.
● If necessary, contact the company by looking up their contact number or email address on the official website. Do not interact with any link or contact number that is provided in the suspicious message, call or email as they can also be fraudulent,
● Do not click on random links and do not share your personal or enterprise information without checking properly.
● If you understand the person contacting you is a scammer, avoid interacting with them immediately.
● After any financial transactions, make sure the transaction has actually occurred by checking your bank/MFS account.