If a cyberhacker can find any way to profit from a disaster or pandemic, he or she will. We have tips to help you protect yourself from coronavirus scams. They are being uncovered and perpetrated on unsuspecting individuals on an almost daily basis.
Entrepreneurs need to be especially wary because in these difficult financial times you may have heard that the government or other entities are offering waivers on loans, SBA loans and grants and other incentives to keep the economy moving. Because of this, it’s easy to give in to fear and click links that you shouldn’t.
Protect Yourself From Coronavirus Scams
- Don’t click an email from someone you don’t know.
- If a friend or colleague sends you an email that just seems a bit “off” or if that person never sends you forwards or links or implores you to “click here and then input this code” don’t do it. Call them and ask if it’s legitimate.
- Don’t send any information via email to a government entity or the IRS. They will not email you for information. Yes, you may be able to go online right now and complete online paperwork for a grant or a loan application, but they won’t approach you and write, “hey fill this out and apply for a loan or grant.”
- Don’t give any personal or business information over the phone to an “IRS” agent — they won’t call you.
- Let your staff, who may be working remotely now, know what to do to safely and securely log into your business network. Have the IT department reach out to the new remote staff and get information on that person’s internet and network. It is easy for a hacker to log into an employee’s home network and access your business information. As we mentioned, this new influx of work from home staff is a playground for cyberattacks and hackers.
We hope you had a social media and internet and network strategy in place before the coronavirus pandemic hit. We also hope you had trained, and continued with ongoing training, of your staff; their is a lot more stress on them to keep the business safe from cyber harm.
Call us if you need to find a way to stay afloat, or to pivot in these uncertain economic times.