Protect Your Business: Is That Your Bank or a Scam in Disguise?

Financial crimes involving scammers and cybercriminals who try to trick employees into divulging their company’s banking information are on the rise. Businesses can be particularly vulnerable to these types of scams due to frequent interaction with their financial institutions.

By reviewing the procedures your company already has in place for detecting scams and sharing the tips below with your employees, you can be more confident that your company’s sensitive information stays safe and secure.

Read emails carefully

Employees tend to receive quite a few emails throughout the day, many of which may originate from outside their organization. While most of these emails are for legitimate business purposes, a few might potentially be scams in disguise. If an employee receives an email claiming to be from your company’s financial institution, they should ask the following questions:

• Is anything unusual? Employees should be on the lookout for anything that might raise alarms about the email’s validity, such as an unusual email address or misspelled words.
• Am I being pushed to give information? Scammers often use scare tactics to make potential victims give over information quickly. Employees should remember to slow down and not be afraid of any demands for an urgent response.
• Would a bank normally contact me? If an employee does not usually handle financial decisions for your business, it is highly unlikely that a bank would ask them for company information.

When in doubt about the validity of a request, employees should avoid clicking on any links and report the incident to their manager.

Beware of phone scams

Shady phone calls are a classic way for cybercriminals to try to obtain account information from those on the other end of the line. Businesses can be even more susceptible to this, as they often answer more calls from unknown numbers than the average individual. Remind your employees to pay attention when the caller ID is not displayed or an unknown number is shown. Also, employees should be wary if someone claiming to be a bank representative were to call them unexpectedly. Normally, a bank will only call an authorized account signor, administrator or someone who contacted the bank directly.

Many of these same principles apply to text messages received from unknown numbers. In both cases, employees should not respond to someone they are suspicious of or click any links included within a text message. Instead, employees should report the call or text message to their manager.

Report any stolen information

Even when your company is prepared for a scam, it’s still possible an employee might fall for one. If this happens, the most important thing you can do is take prompt action. If you believe your company has been victimized, contact your bank immediately to report the incident so a hold can be placed on your account or, if needed, closed. Additional actions may also be taken, such as issuing new debit or credit cards, and you may need to reset any account passwords that could have been divulged to the scammer. Be sure to alert the appropriate individuals at your business that a scam occurred, so they can take proper action to minimize damages and make other employees aware of the scam. You should also report the scam to local law enforcement.

By sharing these tips with your employees, you can protect your company against threats and keep sensitive information safe.

At Trustmark, we believe the privacy and security of our customers’ information is of utmost importance. We will never request confidential information via text, email or phone. However, we may ask you for your information to verify your identity if you call us. If you receive any unsolicited text messages, emails or phone calls allegedly from Trustmark requesting confidential information, contact us immediately at 800.243.2524, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST.

Tools and resources to protect your accounts

Trustmark offers several products and services to help your business detect fraud before it happens. To learn more, click the link below or call our Corporate Treasury Services team at 855.731.0243.