A clever new scam is being perpetrated by cybercriminals to steal valuable information from their victims. Called phone scamming, a cybercriminal pretends to be someone else over the phone to mislead users into revealing protected information about themselves or their employer. Read on to find out how you can save yourself from being fooled.

Unfortunately, there are people with bad intentions who want to cheat you of time and money. Phone scammers use fear to prey on unsuspecting people to steal information that they can use, by pretending that they can help you with imagined computer problems or offering some helpful-sounding enticement. Your employees are the targets of these scams, as well as your first line of defense.

Here are some tips for preparing your front line to deal with these types of phone support scams.

Never trust unsolicited calls

It may seem like common sense, but when an employee is busy or distracted, it can be easy for a phone scammer to sound convincing and trustworthy. Scammers can be very clever and sound legitimate by claiming that they represent a software company like Microsoft or Google, and they often use publicly available phone directories, so they might know names and other business information when they call. Make sure your employees know that an unsolicited tech support call should never be trusted… ever.

Don’t be fooled by claims to “help”

Scammers often offer to help solve a computer problem or sell a software license. Once they have an employee talking, they might try to:

• Trick your employee into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords.
• Take control of your employee’s computer remotely and adjust settings to leave the computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct your employee to fraudulent websites that ask for credit card or financial information.

Employees should be on guard to verify, take names, and hang up if there is any question.

Take precautions

If you use an MSP or other outsourced IT services company, make sure that your employees know who they are and the security procedures that they follow. Monitors that IT providers offer can help to improve your security system and avoid malware issues.

Security should be a key part of your IT plan. Let’s talk about how we can help you prevent the unthinkable.