Public being warned of online dangers through #CyberScams campaign

Europol and the European Banking Federation are this week launching an information campaign on common online financial scams.

Over the next week, law enforcement agencies from all 28 EU Member States, national banking associations and cybercrime fighters will be raising awareness about criminal cyber scams.

The tactics used by cybercriminals are becoming increasingly innovative and harder to detect and just a simple click can be enough to compromise someone's identity.

As part of the campaign, material has been published in 27 languages which include information on the seven most common online financial scams, and how to avoid them:

Scammers pretend to be a CEO or senior representative from the victim's workplace, tricking them into paying for a fake invoice or making an unauthorised bank transfer out of the business account.

What you can do:

• Strictly apply the security procedures in place for payments and procurement. Do not skip any steps and do not give in to pressure.
• In case of doubt on a transfer order, consult a competent colleague.
• Restrict information and show caution with regard to social media.

The scammer approaches a business pretending to represent a customer, and requests that future payments are placed into a new account controlled by the scammer.

What you can do:

• Verify all requests purporting to be from your creditors, especially if they ask you to change their bank details for future invoices.
• Set up designated Single Points of Contact with companies to whom you make regular payments.
• Report the fraud attempts to your management or relevant department.

Victims receive a phone call, text message or email and are tricked into sharing personal, financial or security information.

Emails generally look identical to real correspondence from banks, replicating logos, layout and tone of emails. A sense of urgency is transmitted in the language, implying penalties if you don't respond.

What you can do:

• Keep your software updated, including your browser, antivirus and operating system.
• Look at the email closely: compare the address with previous real messages from your bank. Check for bad spelling and grammar.
• Don’t reply to a suspicious email, instead forward it to your bank by typing in the address yourself.

The scammer emails the victim with a link to a fake website. Once the link is clicked, various methods are used to collect financial and personal information.

As with phishing, the website will look legitimate, but will likely have design flaws or errors in spelling and grammar.

What you can do:

• Don’t click on links, attachments or images that you receive in unsolicited text messages without first verifying the sender.
• Never respond to a text message that requests your PIN or your online banking password or any other security credentials.
• If you think you might have responded to a smishing text and provided your bank details, contact your bank immediately.

The scammer pretends to be interested in a romantic relationship by using online dating websites and social media.

The online profile is often inconsistent with what they tell you while talking, messages are poorly written and vague and they will avoid meeting in person.

What you can do:

• Be very careful about how much personal information you share on social network and dating sites.
• Go slow and ask questions.
• Don’t share any compromising material that could be used to blackmail you.

Scammers steal your personal data from your social media accounts. Different techniques are used to trick you into typing personal details into online forms which can the be used to steal your identity.

This false identity can then be used to take out loans, carry out illegal business under your name or it can be sold to other fraudsters.

What you can do:

• Be aware of how much information and pictures you share on social media sites.
• Review your privacy and security settings on each social media account.
• Report profiles you suspect to be scams to the social media platform.

Victims are tricked into believing they are about to invest in business opportunities such as cryptocurrencies, rare metals, overseas land investments or alternative energy.

The offer is usually available for a limited time and you are asked not to share it with other people.

What you can do:

• Use domestic retail websites when possible – it will be more likely that you can sort out any problems.
• Pay only by using a secure payment service.
• Pay only on a safe device – Keep your operating system and security software up to date.

Here's an online video of the seven scams.