Is your staff prepared to spot an imposter scam?

In these increasingly sophisticated schemes, criminals may impersonate trusted figures like business contacts, government officials, or tech support personnel to manipulate employees into divulging sensitive information or making payments. This can result in serious financial and reputational damage to the company. By sharing these best practices with your team, your business can be better equipped to guard against these scams.

1 Understand Common Imposter Scams

Familiarize yourself and your employees with typical imposter scams targeting businesses, such as CEO fraud, vendor fraud, and tech support scams. The better your team knows how these scams work, the easier it is to spot the red flags.

2 Verify Unexpected Communications

Be wary of unsolicited calls, emails, or texts, especially those requesting business or financial information. Your staff can verify a sender’s identity by contacting the organization they claim to be from. Staff should always look up an organization’s phone number or email address independently – never rely on contact information provided in the suspicious message.

3 Protect Sensitive Information

Staff should never comply with unsolicited requests for information, such as financial details, account logins, or business records. Reputable organizations, such as your business’s financial institution, won’t contact your team out of the blue to request any sensitive information.

4 Guard Company Computers

Make sure staff use multifactor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access and that their antivirus software is up to date.

5 Resist High-Pressure Tactics

Scammers often create a false sense of urgency to get their targets to act impulsively. Remind your staff to take a moment to assess the situation. If something feels off, it probably is. Your employees shouldn’t hesitate to end the conversation or ignore the message.

6 Promptly Report Suspicious Activity

Among your staff, emphasize the importance of immediately reporting suspicious communications to their supervisor or IT department. This way, the company can take necessary steps to prevent an attack from going further, such as updating the company’s email filters, isolating affected computers, resetting compromised account credentials, and alerting other employees.

7 Stay Informed

Scammers’ tactics are constantly evolving. Encourage your team to stay current on the latest imposter scams through resources like Federal Trade Commission and FBI websites. As you learn about new risks, share this information with your team.

Whether targeting an individual or a workplace, imposter scams rely on human error. Effective training and a culture of vigilance are key to spotting red flags and taking action to prevent costly scams from impacting your business, your staff, and your bottom line.

Contact us to learn more about safeguarding your business’s financial information and securing your accounts. Our experts are here to help.