Happy Wednesday, or whatever day it is out there today. 😅 Hope it’s been a good one for you so far. It’s been a bit of a busy one for me. I’ve been in attendance of a number of security-related meetings today, and it’s been quite enjoyable. Very much looking forward to being able to have a conversation with our soon-to-be boss to sit down and set me up with a REAL LIVE security related title and duties.

Speaking of security stuff, I was just emailed by a friend about a suspicious text message they had received from their “credit union” asking about a fraudulent charge on their credit card. They then had received a phone call from the “credit union” asking for their account information and codes so that they could “verify the account, and get a new card mailed out”. I’m happy and proud to report that they rightfully trusted their instincts, and contacted the ACTUAL credit union to have the card cancelled, and a new one issued.

In cases like these, what should you do, should you receive one of these kinds of messages? I’d suggest a few things:

• Don’t respond to the text message. If you aren’t sure if it’s legitimate or not, I would suggest visiting your account on their website, or via their own app. Look at the account details to ensure that there aren’t any fraudulent charges. If there are, then work within their site/app to report it.
• If the scammers try to call you on the phone, play it safe. Hang up, and then call the number on the back of your card, so that you know that you’re actually speaking with someone who works there. It is FAR too easy to spoof telephone numbers to look like a person is calling from any business. Don’t trust the caller ID.
• Don’t be embarrassed, or feel like you’ve done something wrong. You did NOTHING wrong. The scammers do this for a living, and have become pretty adept at preying on emotions and introducing fake time constraints to rattle you into lowering your defenses and turn off your critical thinking. Take a breath. Think for a moment.

This can happen to ANYONE. ANYTIME. ANYWHERE. Absolutely NO ONE is exempt from them. All it takes is the right set of circumstances, and they can get anyone. Like I’ve said, I’ve even fallen victim to one before.

That’s all for today! 😊

-T