Fraud is evolving, be aware and take steps to protect your assets and your information.

Today’s data thieves are using increasingly sophisticated phishing (fake e-mail) and smishing (fake text message) schemes to trick insiders into revealing credentials, passwords, protocols, and system vulnerabilities. That information can then be used to steal valuable customer data or payment information. Fraudsters are also increasingly using account takeover (ATO) methods and malware to take control of customer accounts and user profiles during the online checkout process in e-commerce transactions. The compromised consumer accounts are then used to commit transaction fraud against the merchant or are resold to other fraudsters. After stealing personal and credit card data, by whatever means, one criminal may sell it to another, who then uses it in fraudulent transactions. Such black-market data sales have also become more sophisticated. For example, cyber criminals have started to bundle stolen credit card information from a single zip code and sell it in that area to evade security systems that monitor out-of-area credit card use.

There are three professionals you should consult with to ensure that you have multiple layers of protection. Your insurance provider should be able to give you insight on policy options that protect against losses from a fraud event. Second, your IT professional can help ensure you have the most up-to-date programs that monitor and protect your servers and possibly establish internal programs to test your employees against fraud attempts. Third, your banking professional can help put tools in place that mitigate frauds. Moving away from paper transactions, and using more digital payments, leveraging tools such as Positive Pay and Blocks and Filters is a great start.

Using all three of these professionals together will ensure that you are putting your best foot forward in protecting your business.