The Enormous Affect of Email Impostor Scams

As stated in my March 14th blog this year, impostor scams was named the # 1 type of fraud in 2016, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel project. Fraudsters have become more partial to these type schemes because they take minimal effort, the likelihood of getting caught is marginal and they are extremely lucrative.
The video below details the scenario of a case I worked on last year involving an email account compromise.



FraudSense with Dorothy video segment 5:  Scammed: I sent the down payment for my new house to a crook



The couple in the video were unable to close on their house because due to an email impostor scam, they wired their $25,000 down payment to a crook. Bad actors are extremely clever.  Equipped with enough background information on their victims, they skillfully orchestrate believable email messages sent from the hacked or spoofed email accounts of the victim's true acquaintances.  They target businesses and individuals alike. The next time you receive an email from a business or an acquaintance regarding a request for you to initiate a financial transaction  follow these tips:

  • Perform due diligence before sending money.
  • Using contact information obtained from a reliable source, speak directly with the supposed sender to verify the message before sending money.
  • Don't provide confidential personal or account data to anyone via email unless you have confirmed their identity and need for the information.
  • Avoid opening email attachments unless you are expecting the email and have confirmed the sender.


 If you've fallen victim to an impostor email scam and have wired money to fraudsters you should:

  • Contact the merchant or financial institution that originated the transaction and ask them to attempt recovery.
  • Report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission and to the FBI's  Internet Crime  Complaint Center (IC3).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to tell if your identity has been stolen

Reportedly 143 million consumer's personal identification information (PII) was stolen during the 2017 Equifax data breach.  Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies. Given the type of PII that was accessed, identity theft incidents are predicted to have a significant uptick in the months and even several years to come. Be on the lookout for these red flags.  If these incidents occur your identity may have been stolen. Missing mail, particularly bank and credit card statements You receive statements or outstanding bills for accounts that you don't recognize You receive calls from bill collectors for accounts that you are not familiar with You notice unfamiliar accounts listed on your credit report Upon filing your tax forms, you receive notice from the IRS that your taxes have already been filed You receive notice from your insurance provider regarding services or procedures you didn't receive You receive notice from a business or mer
Read more

Things You Should Know About the Equifax Data Breach

Image
By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE On September 7, 2017 news outlets began reporting that Equifax, one of the three major consumer credit-reporting agencies, had been the target of a major data breach.  Based on Equifax’s investigation, cyber criminals gained unauthorized access to data from mid-May through July 2017. Equifax confirmed that exposed data includes credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 people and personal identifying information (PII) for about 182,000 people involved in credit report disputes.  PII includes sensitive information such as social security numbers, names, birth dates, driver licenses and addresses. According to reports,  143 million people could be affected by this breach . That being the case, you could absolutely be affected. To find out if your data was compromised Equifax has set up a  ‘Check Potential Impact’  site where you are asked to enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social.  After doing so, you’ll receive a message lett
Read more