How Bucks County Businesses are Impacted by Social Engineering Scams

How Bucks County Businesses are Impacted by Social Engineering Scams

Fraud and identity theft scams are on the rise, with Pennsylvanians losing over $200 million to criminals in 2023 alone. In the Philadelphia Metro Area, credit card fraud was the most reported form of identity theft, with scammers creating new accounts and damaging individual and business credit scores by putting them on the hook for new lines of credit that they didn’t open.

So how are they getting away with this? Numerous methods are used by financial criminals, but one that’s rapidly increasing thanks to digital platforms is social engineering. We’re here to walk you through how you can protect your commercial bank account from these types of crimes.

What is social engineering?

Before we get into how you can protect yourself from social engineering, you need to have an idea of what it is so you know what to look out for. Social engineering is a type of fraud where scammers manipulate individuals into giving them access to private information like employee documents, financial details, or even login information to their personal accounts.

This type of fraud is typically used as part of a wider scam, where hackers try to gain access to company devices or systems first, then exploit the business or individual further from there. It’s one of the most effective types of fraud, as these scammers play on people’s emotions and good nature in order to access company files.

In many cases, scammers will choose a particular individual at a business to target. This is often someone who might be in a vulnerable position or they believe may be more naive about this type of scam. This could be a young, part-time employee who doesn’t know any better and wants to be helpful, or it could be someone who is often in a helping position like an assistant or receptionist.

How are businesses affected by social engineering?

While social engineering scams can impact anyone, businesses are a primary target for criminals looking to gain access to large amounts of money and data. Financial losses can be extensive for businesses, costing anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars. And this doesn’t even include the costs to clean up a hack or scam.

If customer data has been exposed as part of a data breach, businesses can face extensive fines and penalties for breaching data privacy regulations. There are also financial losses to consider in the downtime that a business may have when dealing with the incident, such as employees not being able to access their work devices or customers not being able to complete transactions both online or in store.

There’s also the reputational damage and losses that come with any kind of attack on a business. Customers and employees may feel that their data is no longer safe with you, making it difficult to recover their trust in the aftermath of a social engineering scam.

Even if a full breach is unsuccessful on the part of the cybercriminals, any attempt to access a business’s systems can cause downtime and lack of trust within the company. After initial measures have been taken to stop an attack making further progress, lengthy investigations will take time and money to determine how hackers were able to breach the system to any extent and what needs to be done to prevent this in the future.

What does a business social engineering attack look like?

There are many different types of social engineering scams that can happen. In most of these, the attacker will pose as a current employee, a customer, or even a representative from a third party organization like a vendor, bank employee, or even police officer. Their need to prove their legitimacy means that they’ll often use a false identity that makes sense for the business and to gain the trust of the targeted individual quickly.

Some of the most common types of scams including:

• Phishing. This is where emails or texts are sent to encourage a user to click on a link for hackers to steal sensitive data.
• Baiting. These attacks can happen online and in person, where hackers promise the target a reward for handing over information.
• Malware. Using malicious software, criminals will target digital systems to install malware on their devices, giving them access to all the files.

Urgent requests

Keeping a target from thinking too much is the goal of most scammers. By posing as a federal agency or law enforcement, hackers can make urgent requests of their target that makes them panic and comply before they think about what’s being asked of them.

For instance, they could ask the employee to send financial data quickly before a big meeting or pay an overdue invoice urgently. The target often does this without thinking, which then hands over sensitive data to scammers.

Anger and frustration

Another frequently used tactic is where scammers use aggressive language or actions to make a target comply. This often happens when they pose as the CEO or leader of a business and target a more junior employee. This position of authority makes the target respond quickly for fear of professional repercussions.

Appealing to good intentions

Particularly when looking to gain access to financial information, scammers may appeal to the good nature of targets by posing as a charitable organization looking to raise money or put together a special event. The target will likely comply to be as helpful as possible.

Social engineering isn’t always digital

Although most social engineering scams these days are online, this isn’t always the case. Tailgating, where someone closely follows a business employee through a locked door or have them open the door to them, is a technique still used by scammers to access business buildings without authorization.

The scammer often pretends to be a delivery person, someone coming in for a meeting or interview, or a repair person. This is typically used at larger businesses, where employees don’t necessarily know if this is true or not, but any business can be a target for this type of in-person scam.

How can employees avoid social engineering scams?

There are many ways you and your employees can protect yourselves from these scams, but many of them all come back to one critical point—always be skeptical about communications being received. Whether it’s an email or phone call, always look at where the request is coming from and be cautious.

If you’re unsure, it’s always best to email or call a person back rather than immediately responding to their request. Check with your IT department or others you work with if this request can be verified by another source.

Company-wide training on topics like phishing and other cyber crimes is also vital for ensuring that employees are aware of the dangers and what to look out for. Remember, your company’s security is only as strong as your employees.

Protect your business finances from scammers

When you’re looking for business banking services, contact the commercial team at The First. We’re here to help you find the most secure options for your business banking, from business checking and business savings accounts to business loans and merchant services. If you have questions, contact us or visit your nearest branch location in Bucks County, PA.