Fraud rate rises 33% during Covid-19 lockdown

Across all financial products, fraud rates rose by 33% in April, when compared with previous monthly averages.* The largest increase was in car and other asset finance applications, which saw a rise of 181%, followed by current accounts (35%) and then saving accounts (28%). Fraudulent credit card applications (17%) and unsecured loans (10%) also went up.

Fraudsters Capitalise On Fear, Uncertainty And Doubt During The Pandemic

With COVID-19 increasingly being used as a hook to commit fraud, threatening consumers and businesses of all sizes, criminals are continuing to use social engineering methods to spread malware and harvest the personal information of vulnerable individuals. With many people currently concerned about their financial situation and the state of the economy, fear, uncertainty and doubt has created an ideal environment for fraudsters to operate in.

More ransomware, another clumsy employee, beware of these social media tricks, online gamers attacked and more

Another trick is sending a message that one of your posts has violated Twitter or Instagram’s copyright rules. You have to login to the form supplied and dispute this claim. Again, ignore messages like this, or go to the home page yourself and log into your account for confirmation. It also helps to enable two-factor authentication on your social media and email accounts in case you make a mistake.

Protect yourself, beware of...

• Spoofed government, healthcare or research information
• Unsolicited calls, emails and texts giving medical advice or requesting urgent action or payment
  • If you didn't initiate contact, you don't know who you're communicating to
  • Never respond or click on suspicious links and attachments
  • Never give out your personal or financial details

How to mitigate critical cyber risks in a post-COVID-19 environment

The novel coronavirus has forever changed how and where we work. As many organizations adopt new solutions and collaboration tools (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Slack or Zoom) to accommodate employees and customers during this critical period, such fast-paced digital transformation has also exposed several shortcomings associated with our remote workforce’s home networks and routers.