Banking Failures Increase Risk of Scams and Phishing. How to Protect Your Business:

What's the Threat?

As you may know, two large banks, SVB and Signature, failed on Friday. A third bank, First Republic, is on the brink of failing as well. Given the global visibility of the situation, bad actors will take advantage of the situation to steal information and ultimately money.

Whether you previously banked with SVB, Signature, or First Republic, these phishing scams will be non-discriminant. Exercise increased vigilance to protect yourself and your organization from possible scams and fraud.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

While we have not seen specific phishing attacks impact customers yet, we encourage you to take extra precautions in light of this news.

Here are some general best practices and tips to keep in mind always, but especially this week as the threat of phishing and scams is likely to be on the rise:

• The FDIC does not send unsolicited email notifications or offers to increase deposit insurance. If you are a customer of SVB or Signature Bank, correspond with them via the FDIC Claims Portal, a secure web portal.

   

• Confirm your account information and keep an eye out for unexpected changes. (phone number, email address, etc.)

   

• If you receive emails regarding changes to vendor deposit information, call a representative you've worked with in the past to confirm the information before making any changes.

   

• Avoid utilizing a search engine when visiting websites that hold sensitive personal information. Manually type in the URL or set a browser bookmark.

   

• Verify the website's domain in your browser address bar to ensure you're on the intended website.

   

• Utilize strong and unique passwords and use multi-factor authentication whenever possible.

If you think your account has been compromised, please take the following steps:

• Contact us immediately at- helpdesk@goptg.com or call (864) 552-1291
 
• If you know which account has been compromised, change your password.
  
  
• Monitor any associated accounts with the one that has been compromised for any changes over the next few weeks.

Conclusion

As the general public is questioning the stability of their financial institutions, scammers are taking advantage of the situation by sending fraudulent messages in an attempt to reveal your personal or account information.

In general, if someone presents you with information designed to make you afraid and then proposes that you give them money or personal information to make that fear go away, be extremely suspicious and ALWAYS verify.

Thank you,

PTG Team