Following the news that Cifas has released research that discovered fraudsters’ takeovers of customer accounts has soared by 45% in the last year.
The research revealed that hackers were moving from online to phone, to target not only the consumers themselves but also gain access to facilities such as banks. Raj Samani, Chief Scientist at McAfee commented below.
Raj Samani, Chief Scientist at McAfee:
“Today’s news from Cifas demonstrates that scammers are becoming ever more intelligent when it comes to who they plan to target and how. Criminals are wise to the rapid improvements in online security, and are instead going to targets directly through their phones. People need to be just as wary when sharing their personal details as they are with locking up their home so that they protect their online information. For example, if they receive a legitimate call from their bank, they have the ability to call them back to double check they are who they say they are. In moments of panic, it’s easy to share crucial personal information but it is key that consumers take the time to step back and consider who they are talking to.”
“It is safest to assume that people are not who they say they are and people should feel confident in giving them a call back. Now that fraudsters are targeting the elderly and other vulnerable members of the community, younger relatives have a responsibility to make sure they know what to watch out for, to keep their details from being compromised.”
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