Email and Text Scams – What you can do as a consumer or a business owner

Online scams are not new.  However, with the development of new technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (AI), online scams are getting more sophisticated and harder to detect.  Additionally, with the ever-increasing number of people online, whether it’s through their phone or their laptop for business or personal reasons, scammers now target individuals of all ages and businesses of all sizes.  So, what are you to do to protect yourself and your business? 

1. Learn the signs of scams so you can more easily identify email messages, texts, and links as fraudulent.  There are many resources that provide consumers and businesses with information about current scams.  It is recommended that you make a regular practice of consulting those resources, and subscribe to their updates, to stay abreast of trending scams.  Some resources to consider are the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Identity Theft and Online Security site for consumers and businesses, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its consumer education site, and information issued by the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion).
2. If you are a business owner, train your employees.  Providing your staff with up-to-date trainings on internet security is your best defense against scams targeting your business and your employees’ personal information.  There are many commercial training solutions offered through businesses such as KnowBe4, but you can also review and disseminate resources available from the FTC as well as your state’s attorney general website.
3. Be diligent and skeptical.  Be diligent with your internet hygiene: make sure your passwords are strong, do not use the same password for different accounts, set up two factor or multi-factor authentication, and make sure your recovery keys and questions are up to date and known.  Also be thorough in reviewing all new companies you are doing business with.  Be skeptical of messages (emails or texts) from people that you know who are asking for money or gift cards, or sending you attachments to emails that you do not expect.  Also be cautious of receiving new payment instructions from vendors or people you know – verify it with a phone call to a person you know to confirm the changes. 

By staying informed, being diligent, and exercising caution, consumers and business owners can better protect themselves from scams.  For more information about email and text scams, please reach out to Elizabeth Galletta at elizabeth@bgmlawgroup.com.