I fired myself today.
At least, according to the email I “sent” to myself.
By the end of the month I would have left my own business and the company would generously offer a three-month ex gratia payment.
It was an amusing read and smacked of gen AI phrasing.
Of course there was a link to access my “final salary”. At this point, anyone foolish enough to click would probably find themselves drawn into an unwelcome dance with scammers.
But, in this current economic climate, with jobs lost and businesses folding, someone operating in such an environment might just be troubled and distracted enough to click on an email with a company letterhead. At least that’s what the scammers are hoping for.
When The Dam Breaks
In the WED WEB CHAT — Advice For The Digitally Violated, one of the panellists, Ravi Krishnan, a tech-savvy corporate leader, admitted to having fallen for a phone scam. It was the result of a coming together of distractions that resulted in money sent to “help” a colleague’s brother in distress.
The circumstances are well outlined in the report, but shows that crime, unfortunately, pays under certain circumstances. The money was not recovered — it was in and out of the account in a flash — but the key lesson learnt by Ravi is to be in the moment when making decisions involving money.
Don’t be distracted by other things going on, and don’t multitask when it comes to making crunch decisions.
ALSO READ: Get Yourself Out Of A Business Slump
Communication Breakdown
Another business contact was scammed for a few hundred thousand dollars because of inadequate checks and balances in her business operating system. A simple verification of a request that came through by email would have consigned the email to the bin. But a busy travel schedule and agendas discussed hurriedly long distance, resulted in a large sum of money gone for good…or bad, in this case.
Most experts in the area of cybersecurity say that it’s the people who are often the weakest link in a business. They can undo an otherwise rigorous system of checks and protection measures.
In the current climate of flux and change, opportunists come out to play. From phone calls to emails and even physical mail and shakedowns, the threat landscape is broad and you never know what’s going to come at you around the next few corners.
Nothing is sacred. Even the cows make for good beef.
Stay Alert
While technology has made many aspects of our lives easier, it’s also made it easier for the underworld to build and thrive. It’s estimated that the global cost of cybercrime is going to be around US$10.5 trillion annually by 2025.
How do you protect yourself?
Apart from ignoring most phone calls (unless you want to toy with your scam caller), sending most of your emails to the bin, and torching your junk mail, you have to stay alert to the possibility that a scam is waiting to happen.
It makes life a bit more uncomfortable, but it would be much worse should something untoward happen and you have to deal with lost funds, data, information, the authorities, clients and your reputation.
Then you might really have to fire yourself.
