April might bring jokes and silly pranks, but when it comes to cybersecurity, there’s nothing funny about falling for a fake cyber trick. This month at Century Solutions Group, we’re spotlighting the not-so-obvious tricks that cybercriminals use to manipulate, scare, and scam employees. Let’s take a look at how a single screenshot could save your entire organization.
Let’s take a look at the following scenario:
🚨 Cyber Trick #1: “The Fake IT Ticket” a case of CEO Fraud🚨
It’s a sunny Monday morning and you’re sifting through unread emails while finishing your first cup of coffee. One message stands out as it’s marked “URGENT,” and it appears to be from your company’s CEO. It reads:
“Can you process this payment for me immediately? I’m heading into a meeting. See attached.”
First, you hesitate as it’s not every day that you would get an email directly from the CEO. Your intuition tells you that something feels…off as you suspect CEO fraud.
Therefore, you take a screenshot, and you send it to your IT support team to avoid a potential IT support scam.
Within a few moments, your company’s IT support team confirms that the email is fraud: it’s a classic case of CEO fraud, which is a dangerous form of business email compromise that is designed to trick you into transferring funds or exposing sensitive data to the trickster.
A quick pause and a screenshot saved your company thousands! Stay vigilant against CEO fraud!
WAIT! There’s more!
We just took a peep at a real-life scenario, but at Century Solutions Group we want you to stay ahead of the curve by truly understanding Cyber TRICKS and how they can impact you.
TRICKS is our acronym this month for Threats Relying on Impersonation, Communication, and Knowledge Scams. These TRICKS come in many forms, but they all rely on a false sense of urgency, authority, or fear to push you into acting quickly without thinking.
Let’s break down the most common ones:
1. Phishing Scams & Helpdesk Phishing
Phishing scams are common TRICKS tactics that often look like realistic IT support messages as they often are asking for you to “verify your login,” reset your password, or even confirm suspicious activity. DO NOT CLICK! Always, verify first, preferably through a known contact method or your company’s IT helpdesk portal to avoid helpdesk phishing.
2. IT Support Scam
Pop-ups that are pretending to be from tech support? This is another commonly used TRICKS method as often the pop-ups will ask for you to “call this number immediately.” Unfortunately, these are scams know as IT support scam as any legitimate IT teams would never cold-contact you with sketchy pop-ups.
3. CEO Fraud & Business Email Compromise
This TRICKS tactic will impersonate a company’s executive to manipulate its staff into wiring funds, sharing data, or buying gift cards. Please always verify high-stakes requests via another channel such as by sending a screenshot to the helpdesk or giving a phone call to your appropriate work channel.
4. Urgent Email Scam
Emails that are demanding immediate action (“Your account will be locked in 5 minutes!”) are purposely designed to bypass your critical thinking. Remember TRICKS! The false sense of urgency is known as an urgent email scam. Always ask yourself: “Would our company actually operate like this?”
5. Ransomware Warning Pop-up
One day you might see an alarming screen that says that your files have been encrypted. However, ransomware warning pop-up is designed to intimidate users into paying a fake fee to “unluck’ their file. Remember, TRICKS as acting fast could very well make things much worse.
Again: screenshot, then call your IT Support Desk.
6. Scareware & Fake Antivirus Alert
Fake alerts, such as scareware and fake antivirus alerts, tries to impersonate antivirus software that would make false claims about your device being infected. The alerts from both scareware and fake antivirus alert will attempt to guide you to cleaning your device such as buttons that states, “click here to clean it.” Don’t fall for it! Real security tools would never behave in that manner.
💡 Century Solutions Group is not here to spook you as this isn’t an April Fools’ prank. We’re just your friendly reminder to stay ahead of the cyber curve before the real tricksters log in.💡
Here’s How to Stay Ahead:
💬 Communicate constantly:
Keep your team informed about emerging threats, suspicious trends, and real-world stories. (Think of our earlier example of CEO fraud as it’s important to communicate any suspicious activity).
🔐 Use MFA everywhere:
Multi-factor authentication is one of the easiest and most effective ways to stop attackers as it adds an extra layer of protection, which makes it harder for IT support scams to sneak past your defenses, even if your password becomes compromised.
🧠 Don’t react…think:
Scammers thrive on urgency and fear. Pause, analyze, and verify before taking action as this helps avoid urgent email scams and many others.
🧩 Practice regularly:
Run short monthly refreshers or simulations. People remember what they’ve practiced.
📣 Final Word: Keep Those Screenshots Coming! 📣
At Century Solutions Group, we believe that awareness is your best line of defense. Just like a good prank, cyber scams can catch you off guard, except that the consequences are far more serious.
Let’s make April the month of awareness, not an aftermath. If you ever feel unsure, don’t act…take a screenshot.
Lastly, if you ever need a cyber-security refresher:
Visit our social media platforms which has a plethora of tips and tricks that can keep you and your company safe all-year long.