What is Online Fraud Prevention (OFP)?

Online fraud prevention (OFP) is a set of best practices designed to keep users safe when using the Internet. It entails a list of “dos” and “don’ts” that take into account current threats and, if applied, will help users avoid common pitfalls that result in online scams.

Examples of Online Fraud

Online fraud occurs in many different forms. Examples include:

• PhishingWhat is Phishing? Phishing is a type of cyberattack in which attackers send fraudulent communications, or direct people to counterfeit websites in order to trick those individuals into revealing sensitive… | Phishing is a fraudulent message, typically in an email or text message, which requests personally identifiable information (PII) from the user or contains a harmful link. If clicked, the link can install malwareWhat is Malware? Malware, a portmanteau of “malicious software,” constitutes a broad category of software specifically designed to infiltrate, damage, or disrupt computer systems, networks, and devices without the user’s… on the person’s device, which can then be used to gain entry to the network and exfiltrate data.
• Business Email Compromise (BEC)What is Business Email Compromise (BEC)? Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a cyberattack where threat actors gain unauthorized access to a business email account, typically by employing social engineering or… | In a BEC scam, a fraudster will typically impersonate a victim’s employer or work associate, often a vendor requesting payment. They will then attempt to trick the victim into wiring over a money transfer or divulging other sensitive information, using the authority of the work connection to illicit urgency and action.
• Identity TheftWhat is Identity Theft? Identity theft is a type of fraud in which an individual’s personal and sensitive information is stolen and used by someone else without the former’s permission… | Identity theft is when someone impersonates another individual by using their financial or personal information without their consent. This can occur when credit card numbers, social security numbers, addresses, or other sensitive information are stolen online.
• Employment Scams | In employment scams, threat actors use professional platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, alongside traditional means like in-app messaging, text, and email, to offer individuals employment opportunities that do not exist. These are often for remote jobs, and once the victim has signed on and entered their personal information, such as an I-9, the scammers take the information and cut off contact.
• Charity Scams | Charity scams consist of individuals or entities pretending to be a charitable organization, often in a time of crisis or natural disaster, and eliciting money for a charitable cause. Flying under the banner of an actual (or newly created) charity, these fraudulent outfits do nothing more than steal victims’ data and personal details. They often imitate actual domains (redcross.com), copy their logos, and even employ scammers to interact with well-intentioned donors over the phone, making the deception more convincing.

Online Fraud Prevention Strategies

Online fraud prevention relies largely on users’ abilities to recognize common social engineering techniques, and on organizations’ abilities to secure their networks and sensitive data. Some of the most widely applicable online fraud prevention strategies include:

1. Keep your software and services up to date | Pushed updates typically roll out bug fixes and patches that are essential for keeping your devices, software, and applications safe from probing exploits.
2. Use strong password policies | Enforce strong password policies among your employees to avoid compromised accounts. Strong password policies (16 characters or more, randomization) are a bare minimum password hygiene requirement. Password managers, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and passwordless solutions (biometrics, tokenizationWhat is Tokenization? Tokenization is a data security technique that replaces sensitive information with non-sensitive substitutes, known as tokens. These tokens are useless to cybercriminals as they do not hold…) are also strong alternatives.
3. Never give away unsolicited information | A good rule of thumb is never to give away personal information when the source was unsolicited by you. For example, an email from “Microsoft Support” asking you to update your credentials or a text from a shipping service asking you to confirm your home address.
4. Learn to smell a phishing email | Security Awareness Training (SAT) can help employees identify the red flags of a phishing email. These used to include grammatical errors, but with the advent of AI-crafted emails, those are getting rarer. Still, tell-tale signs like suspicious domains, a tone of urgency, and unknown attachments can help users smell a fake.
5. Set up identity theft monitoring | Your executives, especially, will be targets of identity theft attempts. Invest in identity theft monitoring tools that can determine if employees’ information has been involved in suspicious activity, purchases, or sites.

CTA: New to cybersecurity? Familiarize yourself with these Important Cybersecurity Acronyms today.