PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS AGAINST FRAUD.

There have been several instances where network brokers have been targeted by email fraud intercepting amounts of money.

The purchaser is sent a plausible email that claims to be from their broker, containing bank details to which the recipient is advised to send the deposit for the house purchase. The bank details are genuine, but belong to the
thief – the fraud victim has just given away their deposit.

Aside from the obvious loss, harm and distress this causes to customers, firms are also at risk of being the victim of fraud themselves. Businesses who are compromised also face a period of disruption whilst the intrusion is investigated and systems are made secure. Potentially they can become the subject of complaints or even litigation by customers who are either victims of fraud or have their data stolen.

These type of crimes normally start via a simple email Phishing attack or by criminals exploiting weak passwords on web-based systems.

Start defending yourself against fraud

To help defend against these types of attack businesses can use two factor authentication (2FA). This adds an additional layer of security to your email and applications.

2FA provides a way of ‘double checking’ that you really are the person you are claiming to be when you’re using online services, such as banking, email, or social media. It is freely available on most major online services.

When setting up 2FA you will need to provide a ‘second factor’. This is something that you (and only you) can access. This could be a code that’s sent to you by SMS, or created by an app such as Google Authenticator.

Some online services, such as banking, will already use 2FA. However most other online services such as email, Office365 or social media don’t. So you will need to switch it on yourself to give extra protection.

The website turnon2fa.com contains up-to-date instructions on how to set up 2FA across popular online services such as Gmail, Outlook, Amazon, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Passwords can be stolen by cyber criminals. This potentially gives them access to your online accounts. However, accounts that have been set up to use 2FA will require an extra check, so even if a criminal knows your password, they won’t be able to access your accounts.

Find out more about how we support our brokers here.