By David J. Sexton
Crimes in the jewellery industry don’t always have to be violent or forceful. Some savvy criminals have taken to cyberspace; instead of stealing your physical inventory, they’re opting to target your bank account or hard drive directly.
The scariest part of all is they don’t have to be forceful by hacking in cyberspace, either. Through lies and manipulation, these criminals—known as phishers—use e-mails appearing to come from legitimate sources (e.g. your bank) and ask you for sensitive information. Many people unknowingly comply and hand over this information without thinking twice.
To help avoid falling victim to a phishing attack, consider following these tips:
1) Never click on unsolicited e-mail links, especially when they ask for sensitive information. Be mindful anytime an e-mail communication requests bank
or personal information, or asks you to confirm your password.
2) Be wary of messages imposing threats if you fail
to respond.
3) Hover over the links to view the URL’s destination before clicking, as it may be directing you to a phony website. If you’re ever directed to go to your bank’s website, do not click on the e-mail link, but instead open a new browser window and type in the appropriate web address on your own.
4) When a website requests sensitive information, check to see it uses encryption. You can tell it does when ‘https’ is in the URL or you notice a padlock icon in your browser. If you question the legitimacy of an e-mail, research the company’s number and call it to verify the request. Do not use the contact number provided in the e-mail, as it may be part of the scam.
