You’re busy, trying to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. But when it comes to Wires, it’s better to be mindful and diligent than to be mislead by a fraudster. Wire fraud can happen to anyone, so it’s important to understand how it happens and how to mitigate the risk.
How it happens
Masquerading
Fraudsters use an email that looks very similar to that of a real vendor or client that you have completed several legitimate transactions with. This makes it hard to identify the scam.
Spear Phishing
Fraudsters can be extremely well researched in the types of transactions your business conducts. With this research in hand, they send targeted emails directing employees to execute a series of wire transfers.
Mitigation measures for wire fraud
Plan ahead
Prepare and maintain a list of key contacts, and add them to your list of trusted senders. This way, if the email were to come from a similar-looking email address, your email’s fraud detection features will kick in.
Be prepared
Discuss the possible dangers of fraud and have an action plan ready to go in case something does slip through the cracks.
Examine all email addresses asking for money or sensitive information
A doppelganger domain is a domain that appears to be almost identical to an existing domain. This can be sneaky because it could easily be mistaken as legitimate within the organization. For example, a fraudster could register as “my0rganization.ca” where the “0” is really a zero.
Know who to contact in case something does go down.
Your immediate supervisor, ATB and local law enforcement.
Call and confirm
Did you receive an urgent email from a colleague, your boss or an executive? Don’t rush. Give them a call to confirm the details. Make this a best practice for your team.
Use workflow
Use entitlements in ATB Online Business to set up workflow approvals to get a second and third look at important payments. You can also segregate duties by having some people creating wires and others signing/approving wires.
Create limits
Struggling to balance convenience and speed while mitigating risks? Consider using ATB’s limits feature to put more emphasis on large dollar payments.
Do you have a question about wire fraud? Give us a call 1-877-363-4855 and we’ll connect you with an expert.
Source: ATB Financial