Online ID Fraud
The following article was published in the Business 550, March 2007. The text has been edited for use on this website.
Why SMEs through to corporates are falling foul of a new generation of online crooks reports Business 550
According to the first national police report on the matter, fraud is costing British business £4bn a year. Perhaps what’s even more alarming, however, is the ever growing sophistication of online swindles that account for £866m of this.
SME’s through to large corporate’s are susceptible to a category of deception, until recently unheard of. Pharming, phishing, image spam, and click marketing fraud; a new generation of online crook has spawned a whole new language and in turn, raised the security stakes for British businesses of all shapes and sizes.
“Whereas once the average business owner dreaded being burgled or having their company car’s broken into, they are now worried about financial crime and mass marketing scams” says Ian Callens from Birmingham based service and security specialists, Icomm Technologies.
Did you know?
SMEs are putting their businesses at risk because of a lack of proper IT security for new staff. A survey by McAfee found nearly 70% of firms do not include IT security as part of the HR induction process for new staff
One such ruse is online ID fraud. Last year, just shy of 25m instances of personal records were exposed to potential theft and identity fraud. This fresh bout of e-crime involves fraudsters stealing legitimate email addresses from businesses in order to send unsolicited spam. The businesses that are being unwittingly targeted are then blacklisted by email service providers. Personal data management service specialists, Garlik, state it could be costing the UK £4bn a year by 2011. According to Callens, companies across the UK have been targeted by email ‘thieves’ in recent months during a sharp rise in the trend.
“Organisations with less robust software security measures in place, are those more vulnerable to falling foul of electronic ID fraud. Common signs include phone calls from people accusing you of sending spam, and your business being regularly bombarded by ‘undelivered’ messages for emails which were never sent.’
Given that businesses are now more and more reliant on email, it’s a scenario that the majority of businesses can do without,” continues Callens. “Many of the firms we’ve worked closely with on the issue weren’t aware of it happening until significant damage had already occurred.”
