How To Recognise types of fraud

There are many different types of fraud. As a consumer and a business you need to ensure you are aware of all different types of fraud to be able to protect yourself and be as vigilant as possible. Here are some examples of the different types of fraud.

Social Engineering. Criminals exploit our natural tendency to trust people. They use this to manipulate people into providing confidential information or complete an action. A fraudster can obtain information about you from various websites and this data could include your name, email address and phone number, who you work for, where you are, who your work colleagues are and family members. This approach of targeting people is known as social engineering. Sometimes a simple email or phone call is all it takes. Types of tactics used as a part of social engineering include:

• Phishing Emails
• Vishing (Telephone Fraud)
• Smishing (Text Fraud)
• Impersonation (Bogus Boss)

Malware and Ransomware. Malware is a name given to malicious software which is designed to do harm to computers and mobile devices. Malware is typically distributed through clicking on links or attachments in phishing emails, compromised websites and online advertising banners. Ransomware encrypts data or restricts access on compromised devices before demanding a ransom be paid. Often disguised as an attachment in an email or delivered to the victim through an exposed software vulnerability, ransomware will infect files, drives and networks at great speed.

Insider Fraud. This is also called employee or internal fraud and when a person within your company commits a fraud against it. Insider fraud often starts with small amounts of money being taken. If these go undetected, the value taken may increase as the person gains confidence.

Mandate Fraud. Mandate fraud is where someone tricks you into changing details of a direct debit, standing order or bank transfer by pretending to be an organisation you make payments to. The fraudster makes contact via letter, email or telephone and asks for account details to be updated with any payments going to the new account.

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