Fraud | July 2024 How to identify and prevent the most prevalent cyber scam

Social engineering fraud begins with scammers harvesting personal data about your employees, vendors, or customers. Then, they use these details to create a convincing impersonation of an individual your employees trust—with the goal of tricking your team into disclosing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.

Everyone in your organization can be a target of SEF. This type of attack can be directed at one or two key players or a whole team.

Good news: Cybersecurity awareness training really works.

If personal information is stolen in a social engineering attack, quickly address the data breach and disclose what you’re doing in a way that shows your partners you care for and protect them.^{Disclosure 5} Also, let them know how they can help you keep their information safe.

Customers appreciate proactive, transparent communications about data breaches.

Preventing losses from social engineering fraud starts with you—and the processes you put in place to protect your company. Here are several strategies that can help your employees spot and avoid social engineering scams.

Train your team to recognize and report suspicious messages, attachments, and links. Create protocols for identifying red flags, reinforce these trainings regularly, and implement programs for new hires.

Regularly expose staff to the latest social engineering techniques in a safe way through mock attacks performed by your IT team. They can trace who fell for tactics like spear phishing or vishing and, crucially, highlight areas where you may need more training and protection.

Technology like multifactor authentication (MFA) boosts your ability to screen out scams distributed by bots. Tech tools like behavioral biometrics can also help you and your team spot the difference between fraudsters and genuine users.

Are you in doubt about the authenticity of any company communications you’ve received? Reach out to the company directly to verify the origin of any suspicious emails, voicemails, or texts. For example, if the communication claims to be from Truist, you can ask your relationship manager to confirm it’s legitimate before taking any action.

If prevention fails and your company is attacked, a social engineering fraud (SEF) insurance policy can help you minimize your losses. Talk to your agent to learn what’s available and what makes the most sense for your business.