Cyber security breaches and scams continue to be a huge threat, particularly as we’re moving into an AI-powered world combined with the current financial vulnerability of both individuals and businesses. As technology evolves, scammers also regularly develop new methods to take advantage of new technologies and opportunities.

According to the latest UK Finance annual fraud report criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2023. Whilst this was actually a small decline of 4% from 2022, it still shows a huge and concerning figure. As more of our lives moves onto apps and AI-powered behaviour, it’s essential businesses remain vigilant. We hope this article can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Phishing Scams

Early phishing scams trace back to the 1990’s of hackers using AOL to capture credit card information. Since then phishing has evolved dramatically, and is now officially recognised as a fully organised portion of the black market. With the rise of Cryptocurrencies scammers can now use malicious software securely and most importantly anonymously which has changed the game for cybercriminals.

An estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent every day – a truly staggering number. If you have an email address that’s been around for a few years at this point, you’re likely used to receiving multiple phishing emails a week. Many of these drop into our junk/spam folders, alongside those which look blatantly false, and can be easily ignored. However, scammers are becoming smarter with their methods and some may slip through even the best spam filters.

Whether it’s an attempt to gain access to your social accounts, payment account login details or simply capture some of your personal information to use – remain vigilant and sceptical of any emails requesting your information. Watch out for emails from your ‘boss’ asking for a call or some other information  – a common work based phishing-style scam we’re seeing lately. As an employee ensure your employers are well educated on phishing scams.

If you’re ever asked to reset your password, or click a link to update / provide some information – the simplest step is to instead navigate to the website in your browser, or visit the app, then look for any notifications that match the email’s context. Alternatively if you’re unsure, contact the customer support for the service, app or website in question and show them a screenshot of the email – what takes a couple of extra minutes at most could save you a huge amount of issues.

AI-Enhanced Scams

Generative AI is improving in leaps and bounds almost weekly at this point. Whilst many AI tools offer extremely useful time-saving capabilities for many work-related tasks, generative AI has also allowed for new or improved forms of scams. Here’s some ways scammers might use AI in 2024:

• Creating deepfakes of trusted individuals (CEOs, government entities, celebrities etc) to convince victims to sign-up to a malicious service. This technology is already at a worryingly impressive stage, allowing scammers to produce false videos or audio clips that look and sound incredibly convincing.
• The ‘Grandparent Scam’ – where a scammer contacts a parent or grandparent and pretends to be their son/daughter or grandchild respectively. The scammer often pretends to be in a bad situation, such as struggling financially or stuck in a location with no money, lost their phone etc. They often ask to send money, gift cards or some form of payment.
• Impersonating an employer – particularly if your employer has an online presence, the scammer may be able to leverage videos, photos or audio to create some form of fake impersonation and request personal information from the employee.
• Create and write more convincing phishing emails and texts – AI is already being used to speed up creation of phishing scams, but also make them sound more convincing and ‘natural’, particularly if the scam is not being written in the scammer’s native language.

Phone Scams

Phone scammers have been around for decades, posing as someone else, requesting information. Whether it’s a human or a robocall, if you’ve ever been requested to provide information from an unsolicited call ensure you’re extra vigilant. Politely hang up the call and call the company back using a verified phone number found on their official website or via other legitimate means.

Tech Support Scams

Malware unexpectedly installed on your device may cause pop-ups which warn that your device is infected or vulnerable. They may prompt you to install something, or provide false contact details for tech support. The scammer will then pretend to be a legitimate form of tech support, and often trick you into giving control of your machine whereby they can then carry out malicious activity. Whilst less common these days, depending on the website these scams can also come from scam advertisements.

Microsoft and Apple will never provide a pop-up informing you to call their tech support due to a machine being infected. If you’re an employer receiving these kinds of alerts, contact your IT manager or alternatively reach out to us.

One-Time Password (OTP) bots

This scam has become more common in the recent years and can be extremely convincing. Two scammers can work in tandem to gain access to your banking accounts for example – one scammer attempts to access your bank which creates the one-time password prompt, at the same time scammer #2 imitates the company or bank and calls, texts or emails you asking for the code.

Due to the timing, it can often convince individuals that the request is a legitimate one, rather than someone just trying to access their account. Business owners and employees with access to financial accounts should be extra cautious of this scam.

Here at Intrasource we offer a range of Cyber Security Services for businesses, with over 20 years of experience in Cyber Security & Network Security Solutions. We provide various levels of security support, from multi-layered approaches to securing your network, penetration tests for firewalls, antispam and malware protection for email, antivirus and endpoint security for your computers, or device management to ensure that only trusted devices are accessing your data.  Contact us today for more information.