Tis the Season for Phishing

November and December are known for several things: Snow, Turkey, Presents, and SO MANY EMAILS! It seems like everyone is inundated with sales and marketing emails this time of year. Unfortunately, scammers know this and use it as an opportunity to ramp up attacks.

It's no surprise that digital fraud spikes nearly 12% during the holiday season. Scammers know that your inbox is overrun with emails. They also know that it's the time of year when businesses are rushing to get projects done before the end of the year. Not to mention, people are preoccupied with planning for the holidays. It’s the time of year when we might be the busiest and also paying the least attention to detail. So, it’s the perfect time for a phishing campaign! Many attackers are looking for large targets and will sit on accounts for weeks or months, waiting for a mention of an invoice or bill. That’s their signal to jump in and “inform” the other party that their bank account information has changed. Wire transfer fraud has some of the lowest recovery rates, with only 26% recovering funds after wiring money.

So be vigilant! Look at a sender's email address, and if someone asks you to do something differently, find a way that isn't email to confirm it, whether it's calling them up, chatting to them, or doing a video call. If you get an email telling you about a package or a document, hover over the link and make sure it looks OK. And if you're ever unsure, or think you may have messed up, tell someone! It's way easier for us to confirm or to cut off a potential attack now than it is to recoup any potential damages from a data breach later.