Fraud is an act of obtaining unauthorized benefit by deception of using other person’s details or cards. People now-a-days are very well aware of online frauds, scams, hacking and many more. It’s a criminal act of scamming money out of customers, merchants or both. Everyone needs to be vigilant and skeptical while being online. According to New Straits Times Press,
“Malaysians have suffered losses amounting RM 2.23 billion to cyber-crime frauds since 2017”
And
“A total of 67,552 cyber-crime cases were reported between 2017 till June 20 this year”, according to the police.
The most famous terms uncovered in these frauds are as follows:
- Typo squatting
- Cyber Fraud
- Payment Fraud
- Fake listings & reviews
- Cashback Abuse
Cybercriminals are increasingly attacking businesses using spoofed emails, malicious software, infected attachments, corporate account takeover etc.
Typo squatting is a type of an online attack that is pulled off by exploiting minor typos in the URL and bait you in sharing your personal/ financial information. It is also known as URL hijacking having purposely misspelt domains for malicious purposes.
Cyber Fraud is a blanket term to refer to cyber attackers committing crimes to trick victims illegally out of money, property or other assets using the internet hence perpetuating financial fraud. It’s an intention to corrupt other people’s financial or personal information stored online.
Payment Fraud refers to unauthorized transactions or purchases by using another person’s payment information. Fraudsters use different ways to hack into people’s systems using the dark web as it makes it hard to trace the information and tools of the criminals. Compromised information is then sold to other hacks over the dark web.
Fake Listings & Reviews are scam websites that put fake products and deceptive reviews to intentionally mislead consumers. Scammers trick people into sending money before they even find out the truth. Fake ads are also made by altering the original ad and also using the name of the person who originally posted it.
Cashback Abuse is done with the intention of deception just to gain performance incentives and bonuses. Fake refunds are for products that are purchased without needing to return the goods. This is done by exploiting gaps in logistics to get profit or goods for free.
It is essential to protect your business from such frauds by educating your employees, partnering with your bank to combat such unauthorized transactions, paying attention to suspicious activities and installing proper firewalls for your systems etc.
Knowing your business inside and out while identifying areas where your business is more vulnerable to fraud. Usage of strong passwords for systems prevents cyber criminals from breaking into your systems.
Two factor authentications for your business accounts is another step forward towards safety and security of your sensitive information. Along with that, running background checks for your employees can prove to be helpful in handing over the work to trusted employees only.
BEWARE OF SUCH FRAUDS, WORK EFFICIENTLY !
