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Cyber Scams, Fraud on the Rise

Strategies to Stay Safe Online with Visa. Sponsored by: Visa

SAN DIEGO — October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time to educate consumers about the increasing threats to digital security and a time to empower consumers with tools to protect themselves online.

Doria Ferrante, top risk expert and Senior Vice President for Visa, joins our Laura Cavanaugh to break down the latest cybersecurity fraud threats for consumers and strategies to help us stay safe online.

Unfortunately cyber security and fraud risk remain an industry top risk, for both businesses and individuals.

“The reality is where there’s money and reward to be had at the end of the line, there’s always going to be crime and bad actors.,” said Ferrante. “95% of successful cyber attacks are still due to human error, meaning we’re clicking the link, we’re downloading the attachment, everything we shouldn’t be doing.”

Scams are on the rise. And criminals are out there targeting consumers 24/7, which means we need to be hypervigilant and think and pause before we click.

The pandemic multiplied the number of potential targets for fraudsters overnight.

“We were propelled into digital overnight because the world shut down. You saw, all of a sudden, a lot of people having to learn to buy groceries online, getting their life-saving medicine online,” said Ferrante. “Also you had children online all day long doing their schooling.”

The best safety measures for consumers is to be on high alert for demanding, anxious, scary tones in emails that drive a sense of urgency. Those are red flags. Beware of spelling mistakes. Look for oddness. Make sure you are protecting your password and username as crown jewels. Make sure to enable multi-factor authentication.

For more safety tips and a number of resources for individuals and businesses, visit www.visa.com and www.visa.com/security

Sponsored by: Visa

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