Imagine going about your day when suddenly you receive a text from the CEO. The head of the company is asking for your help. They’re out doing customer visits, and someone else dropped the ball in providing gift cards. The CEO needs you to buy six £200 gift cards and text the information immediately.
The message sender promises to reimburse you before the end of the day. Oh, and by the way, you won’t be able to reach them by phone for the next two hours because they’ll be in meetings. One last thing, this is a high priority. They need those gift cards urgently.
Would this kind of request make you pause and wonder? Or would you quickly pull out your credit card to do as the message asked?
A surprising number of employees fall for this gift card scam, and many variations exist.
This scam can come by text message or via email. What happens is that the unsuspecting employee buys the gift cards. They then send the numbers back. They find out later that the company CEO wasn’t the one who contacted them. It was a phishing scammer.
Without proper training, 32.4% of employees are prone to fall for phishing scams.
Though the circumstances may be odd, many employees fall for this gift card scam. Hackers use social engineering tactics. They manipulate emotions to get the employee to follow through on the request.
Some of these social engineering tactics illicit the following:
The scam’s message is also crafted to get the employee to act without thinking or checking. It includes a sense of urgency. The CEO needs the gift card details right away. Also, the message notes that the CEO will be out of touch for the next few hours, which decreases the chance the employee will try to contact the real CEO to check the validity of the text.
Despite what a message might say about being unreachable, check in person or by phone. If you receive any unusual requests or money-related requests, verify them. Contact the person through other means to make sure it’s legitimate.
Scammers often try to get victims to act before they have time to think. Just a few minutes of sitting back and looking at a message objectively is often all that’s needed to realise it’s a scam. Don’t react emotionally; ask if this seems real or out of the ordinary.
Ask a colleague, or better yet, your company’s IT service provider, to look at the message. Getting a second opinion keeps you from reacting right away. It can save you from making a costly judgment error.
Phishing keeps getting more sophisticated all the time. Make sure your employee awareness training is up to date. Call today to bolster your team’s defences.
You need the best IT support in London. Technology is complicated and expensive. It’s so hard to maintain everything and know what to do when something breaks or goes wrong. IT problems can put a damper on your day. They’re frustrating, time-consuming, and seem like a never-ending cycle of issues.
Penntech’s average NPS score over 90 days is 84. The average Net Promoter Score (NPS) for IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can vary. Still, an NPS of around 50 is considered excellent in this industry, with scores above 70 exceptional and rare.
We offer our services on a trial basis for the first three months because we’re confident in our delivery and approach.
Penntech offers a wide range of IT services, from strategic project management to 24/7 remote support, ensuring all your IT needs are always covered.
We provide advanced cybersecurity measures and expertise, including penetration testing services and Cyber Essentials, to protect clients from cyber threats.
We offer Clients the ability to scale IT services up or down based on their needs. This flexibility is crucial for businesses that experience seasonal changes or rapid growth.
Other providers often enforce their preferred IT stack, but we don’t, as IT is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
We ensure our Clients’ business continuity through robust disaster recovery and backup solutions.
With experience in various verticals and industries, Penntech understands different businesses’ unique IT challenges and can provide customised solutions..
Contact us today or explore the range of support packages on offer.
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