Social Engineering Fraud: How to Get Secured?

But, before telling you about this policy, let us tell you some more about social engineering. Social engineering has become a serious problem for companies no matter how big they are. This might surprise you but preventing social engineering frauds are not much complex or difficult to implement. A company can prevent it from happening by following a simple procedure to get secured.

Constant Progress In Social Engineering Attacks

These frauds are evolving with time. They are turning more emotional and sophisticated in their methods of looting people and companies. Due to social media, these frauds have a lot more information about you than you cannot even imagine. They can even blackmail you by using a secret that might be embarrassing for you or even threaten you.

For example, millions of people are on social media. They upload photos, share their feelings according to their moods and use social media as if they are talking to a family member. This is where these frauds get their ideas from. They stalk you and then collect some of the secret information related to your life that you would never want anyone else to know. Then they use it against you and trap you so that you do exactly what they want you to do without even informing the police or cyber cell.

Apart from this, there are 3 types of frauds/attacks that are very common. They are as follows:

1. Against Organization

The fraud can act like a colleague or an executive and ask you to transfer some amount to them. They will emotionally blackmail you after doing their research on you and observing you for a while.

For example, a fraud posing as your senior manager with whom you are very close to texts you and asks you to wire Rs. 10,000 and promises you to return it next month. Without thinking and cross-checking you transfer the amount and voila. Turns out, it was not your senior manager and you become of victim of social engineering fraud.

2. Against Financial Institution

In this kind of attack, the fraud will contact the financial institution and tells that he has compromised an employee’s login details or bank account details. Then he will send you an instruction to follow and wire some amount their own bank account. They can even verify it with an email if the employee’s credentials have been compromised.

3. Against Customer/Vendors

The cyber criminal will create a lookalike of an invoice that might look similar to the original one. Now when you transfer the amount, it would go to the cyber criminal’s account instead of going to the vendor’s or company’s account.

Cyber Insurance Policy Coverage

This policy provides you coverage for social engineering frauds. But it is also important to keep checking the coverage from time to time with the changing environment of these cyber attacks. So, the coverage provided by the cyber insurance are as follows:

1. Coverage For Social Engineering Fraud

This covers the policyholder for the loss from an employee transferring any amount to the fraud’s account but the request should be legitimate.

2. Coverage For Fund Transfer

This provides cover for the money transfer from a financial institution to a fraud account based on the criminal using compromised login credentials of the employee.

3. Coverage For Fraudulent Invoice

This provides cover for any vendor or customer of a shop or company transferring the amount to a fraud account based on a similar-looking invoice.

How To Prevent Social Engineering Fraud Yourself?

It is very simple to prevent social engineering fraud by yourself. Since an insurance company will not provide you enough coverage until the victim company uses some security measures. So, here are some of those security practices that might help you get optimal coverage.

1. Verification & Cross-Check

Money does not grow on trees, you earn it by working hard. So, when you are asked anyone to transfer you any kind of amount for any reason, you must verify that it is the person they claim to be or someone else. Cross-check by calling them and not believing any written text or email that can be hacked. Until and unless you verify that it is the right person, do not transfer any amount and spam that email or phone number.

2. Dual Authorization

There are some companies that put a limit to the transfer amount and to transfer an amount bigger than that you will have to get approval from another person. This way even if you lose a certain amount of money, you will be able to save a big chunk. It will decrease the chances of being robbed by cybercriminals.

Conclusion

Social engineering frauds are rising day by day and you can protect yourself by purchasing a cyber insurance policy. You can purchase the policy online so that you can understand all the terms and conditions related to the policy and follow them to get an optimal cover. It is also advised by the insurance industry experts to purchase the insurance policy online to avail of some additional offers and discounts.