Online fraud and cyber attacks against individual and businesses, whether romance fraud, hacking of personal data, or even getting scammed by people pretending to be AirBnB hosts, is on the rise. This can affect anyone, including you or your clients.
Being aware is the first line of defence against fraudsters. The monthly threat update from the North East Regional Crime Centre (NERCC), shows that in December alone more than £2million was lost to this type of fraud - and this in only one part of the country. Obviously this is happening around the whole country not just in the North East, so in whichever part of the country you live and work, you need to be aware, and you should also be alert to clients who might be caught out. Those of you who were at last year's Inspire Tour in Leeds, will remember the Police presentation about fraud and hacking. The officers said that people caught out by scams would go to great lengths to get money from whatever source to give to their online 'friends' who they were convinced were about to give up everything to be with them. This included draining money from their personal, business or employer's Bank account.
Once you have read the bulletin, please let us know what you think. Is this type of news helpful? Would you like to hear more from your own area? Have you been scammed or hacked?