{"id":15064,"date":"2019-12-03T12:12:43","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T11:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/?p=15064"},"modified":"2019-12-04T12:15:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T11:15:11","slug":"5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips to help you avoid business email scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The speed with which we interact online, makes it easy for even the \nmost eagle-eyed of us to fall prey to a scammer with a reasonably \ngenuine-looking profile.

Have you ever gone to click a link and then stopped at the last moment? Well if so, read on for our top five tips to avoid a business email phishing scam<\/strong> or BEC (Business Email Compromise).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Check business email addresses closely <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cyber criminals use compromised business email accounts, or spoof the\n sending email addresses. It is, unfortunately, simple to alter the \nemail header, so when it lands in your inbox, it appears legitimate, \nalbeit perhaps generic. An apparently legitimate sender email address is\n absolutely no guarantee of authenticity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Be aware of the multiple types of phishing <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Phishing email attacks are on the rise and they are usually sent out \nin large numbers and form part of a broader email spam attack. There are\n several types of phishing emails:

Deceptive Phishing:<\/strong>\n these impersonate a legitimate sender with the main objective to obtain\n personal information and to access to further financial details.

Spear Phishing:<\/strong>\n these are highly personalised to get the user interacting with them \ndirectly. They often use a known senior individual\u2019s credentials as the \nsender profile to establish legitimacy in an attempt to obtain sensitive\n information.

Whale Phishing:<\/strong> this is targeting a\n business team as a whole. The cyber-criminal could impersonate the CEO \nor a senior executive and usually stresses the need for urgent action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Unusual communications <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These will be situations where a legitimate sender cannot use regular\n methods of communication. Common scenarios include their normal email \naccount being down; communication in transit, for example from an \nairport; or problems with their mobile phone.

Whilst these \nsituations genuinely occur every day, scammers exploit them too. They \npresent a seemingly convincing story as to why they cannot go through \nthe usual checks or approval process with you and may offer an element \nof reward for following their specific requests. If you are in any \ndoubt, assume the worst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Rewards which could be too good to be true <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There could be a reward attached to the sender\u2019s requests. Be wary if\n it seems over-generous, is a high-value free gift or a vastly \ndiscounted item. Usually, these rewards come with a deadline to create a\n sense of urgency and the target will often act on impulse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Common scams to watch for <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Online gift cards, particularly in the run-up to the festive season \nwith high values that are seemingly authorised by someone already in the\n business, or appear as a genuine offer.

Fake invoices, with the \nsender impersonating existing company suppliers and tracking regular \namounts, then raising similar invoices used to extract funds in a \nfraudulent manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tax Scams, as year-end closes, be on the \nlook-out for requests for personal information via tax checking scams, \nused to extract personal data via requests purporting to be from HMRC or\n your HR department. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The speed with which we interact online, makes it easy for even the most eagle-eyed of us to fall prey to a scammer with a reasonably genuine-looking profile. Have you… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":14803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security"],"yoast_head":"\n5 tips to help you avoid business email scams<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check business email addresses closely. 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Cyber criminals often use compromised business email accounts, or spoof the sending email addresses.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"names.co.uk blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/namesco\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-03T11:12:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-04T11:15:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Your-online-security.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"945\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Namesco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Namesco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c4a24823b87b0d365a83bb36d095d471\"},\"headline\":\"5 tips to help you avoid business email scams\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-03T11:12:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-04T11:15:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/\"},\"wordCount\":496,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Your-online-security.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Security\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/\",\"name\":\"5 tips to help you avoid business email scams\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/5-tips-to-help-you-avoid-business-email-scams\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Your-online-security.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-03T11:12:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-04T11:15:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.names.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c4a24823b87b0d365a83bb36d095d471\"},\"description\":\"Check business email addresses closely. 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