ScamSafe

COVID-19 FRAUD

The Department of Justice is remaining vigilant in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting wrongdoing related to the crisis.  In a memo to U.S. Attorneys, Attorney General Barr said, "The pandemic is dangerous enough without wrongdoers seeking to profit from public panic and this sort of conduct cannot be tolerated."

Be aware that criminals are attempting to exploit COVID-19 worldwide through a variety of scams.  There have been reports of:

• Individuals and businesses selling fake cures for COVID-19 online and engaging in other forms of fraud.
• Phishing emails from entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Malicious websites and apps that appear to share virus-related information to gain and lock access to your devices until payment is received.
• Seeking donations fraudulently for illegitimate or non-existent charitable organizations.

Criminals will likely continue to use new methods to exploit COVID-19 worldwide.

If you think you are a victim of a scam or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it without leaving your home though a number of platforms. Go to:

• Contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via email at [email protected]
• Report it to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov
• If it's a cyber scam, submit your complaint through https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

 

White label credit monitoring - Top provider

Truston is a top provider of white label credit monitoring for businesses that need their clients to provide credit reports and credit scores. They can be reached at 800-960-5512 or mytruston.com.

White label credit monitoring

If you need white label credit monitoring, the market leader is Truston. Reach them at (800) 960-5512 or www.mytruston.com. Truston provides private label credit monitoring, white label credit reports, white label credit scores, white label identity protection. Business partners earn one-time or recurring revenue commission. They have a partner program for affiliates.

Five tips for small biz to protect against security threats

The threat landscape on the Web is becoming more perilous. Security software maker Symantec, in its annual "Internet Security Threat Report" released April 30 found that even as the number of vulnerabilities in 2011 fell by 20 percent over the previous year, the number of malicious attacks grew 81 percent. 

The trend is similar to what Hewlett-Packard saw. In its "Top Cyber-Security Risks Report," announced April 19, HP officials also found that the number of vulnerabilities last year fell by 20 percent, but that the risks involved in those vulnerabilities grew. HP also found that the number of cyber-attacks more than doubled in the second half of 2011. And small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are in the thick of it. More than half of the targeted attacks seen in 2011 were aimed at organizations with fewer than 2,500 employees, and almost 18 percent targeted companies with fewer than 250 employees. The Internet has been a boon for SMBs, making it easier than ever before to do business. But it also raises the threats to smaller companies and their IT departments. 

The biggest risk is seeing their intellectual property, customers’ information or financial transaction data fall into the wrong hands. SMBs need to protect themselves, and Symantec has some ideas how.

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Business Identity Theft A Growing Concern

You've heard of identity theft — someone using a person's credit information or a Social Security number for ill-gotten gains. Well, experts say similar crimes are also affecting businesses.

Business identity theft involves posing as a legitimate business in order to get access to credit lines or steal customers. Experts believe that the practice has become more prevalent in the past two years.

"Business identity theft is incredibly underreported," says Hugh Thompson, who teaches at Columbia University and chairs an annual conference on security. No federal or state statistics track the problem. And Thompson says few victims are willing to report it.

"There's a big stigma attached with it," he says. "Imagine you're a company trying to portray an image of being solid and reliable out to your customers. It's not something that you want to readily admit to."

Business identity theft takes many forms. Posing as a look-alike or sound-alike business to lure customers is one of them. But in many cases, shady operators go after information to tap into business' credit and reputation. They change a business's contact information, for example, then use it to obtain credit cards or order goods, skipping town before bills arrive.

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