The senders name on an SMS can be spoofed, so even if the SMS appears to be from your bank, but the message is unexpected or unusual, then contact them directly via the phone number on the back of your card, or a bank statement.

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Ransomware is a form of malicious software [malware] that enables cyber criminals to remotely lock down files on your computer or mobile device. 

Criminals will use ransomware to extort money from you [a ransom], before they restore your access to the files. 

There are many ways that ransomware can infect your device, whether is be a link to a malicious website in an unsolicited email, or through a security vulnerability in a piece of software you use.

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Part of the “Do you really know...?” fraud series (Businesses Edition), from the Economic and Cyber Crime Prevention Centre

Every company, irrespective of its size of the sector it operates in, is a target for fraudsters. Unfortunately, that threat sometimes comes in the form of employees from within your organisation. 

Insider fraud occurs when someone uses their position within an organisation to steal money or information. Whether it is the theft of confidential business documents, fraudulently increasing purchasing order values, or intentionally over-claiming on expenses, these are all types of insider fraud. 

As well as the financial losses, the damage to your company's reputation and the loss of trust from customers can be devastating.

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Job fraud occurs when fraudsters purport to be an employer and offer jobs that don't exist.

These fake jobs are often advertised in the same places where legitimate companies advertise real jobs.

The fraudsters rely on tactics like this to trick people into believing the jobs are genuine.

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Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

A DDoS attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with a large volume of traffic from multiple sources. 

Consider the likelihood and risks to your organisation of a DDoS attack, and put appropriate threat reduction/mitigation measures in place.

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Malware is malicious software that consists of programming, for example code or scripts, designed to disrupt the performance of PCs, laptops, handheld devices, etc.

Malware can also collect information or data from infected devices and pass them on to another device. Malware is often referred to as viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, dishonest adware, scareware, and crimeware.

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Action Fraud is highlighting the latest scams based on reports from the public assessed and analysed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

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Do you know what phishing is?

Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information, for example usernames, passwords and credit card details or steal money by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication such as email, pop-up message, phone call or text message.

The most common phishing scam purported to be either from a bank or from HMRC followed by online payment merchants and utility companies. 

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With the development of new technology, original crimes 'of the streets' are developing also, and heading online. To put this into perspective, according to the Office of National Statistics, over a four month period, approximately 5.1 million incidents of 'online fraud' was recorded, and a further 2.5 million incidents of crimes which fell under the Computer Misuse Act.

To better protect ourselves, ActionFraud have developed the 'PROTECT' scheme.

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