Start with Training and Education to Defend Yourself and Your Organization from Phishing Scams

It was a Sunday morning, and I was taking a break from doing chores around the house. The house phone rings and my mom (a Baby Boomer) picks it up. I can only hear this side of the conversation, but quickly I gathered that it was "DirecTV" on the phone. The call went on for a fairly long time. Finally, when my mom hung up the phone, I asked her who it was. She told me it was DirecTV and they claimed to need to replace some of the equipment for our satellite to provide us with a better signal. The equipment normally costs $1,000, but it would only cost us $300, and after six months, we would get the money back.

But something did not feel right. My mom called DirecTV from their number posted online, and guess what? DirecTV did not call her. It was someone trying to scam her out of $300.

The scary part? It was really convincing.

However, she knew to second guess the caller before providing her information. Why? Because it is something we have talked about as a family. The FTC reported that Americans lost billions of dollars in 2021 from scams.

Americans are not the only ones losing billions of dollars because of scams. So are businesses. The exact dollar figures are not important. What is important is what you should be doing to protect your MLS, brokerage, or association. You must start with the first layer of defense against scams: educating your people.

Start with educating yourself and your staff

I'm not saying it is that simple, but the reason phishing scams work so well is that they are designed to target even the brightest people. Some scams are more obvious than others.

Here is a phishing scam that someone tried recently targeting WAV Group's Facebook page and its followers:

This one seems fairly obvious that it is a scam. But they wouldn't be doing it if it didn't work at least some of the time. You must stay diligent even when your team says, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Our data and technology experts at WAV Group have helped many clients over the years examine their technology stacks and consult with their staff to keep the scammers out. If you would like an expert to examine the vulnerabilities of your digital platforms or get help educating your team on the dangers lurking in their inbox, cell phone, text messages and social media, WAV Group is here to help. David Gumpper, our digital security expert, will be happy to help protect your team and your company from disaster.

Click here and we will be happy to schedule a time to talk to you.

To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.