After his email account was stolen and a customer almost gave over $100,000 to a fraudster, a small company owner in South Australia’s southeast is advising people to manage their passwords.
Nearly 50% of Australia’s small companies have been cyberattacked.
After getting dubious emails and calls demanding boat payment, a customer called Daniel James of South East Marine and Motorcycles.
The fraudster guessed the business’s email password and modified an existing boat sales order with the new bank account credentials.
The fraudster claimed to be from Naracoorte and submitted a fresh invoice with different bank account details to get the victim to pay them instead of South East Marine and Motorcycles.
Luckily, the customer called Mr. James before sending any money.
“He smelt a rat pretty quick,” he claimed.
Mr. James warned South East Marine and Motorcycles’ Facebook followers of the fraud by utilizing a computer software to handle the business’s account credentials.
He phoned other clients with outstanding orders.
He advises small enterprises to be cautious.
Small-business training
Last month, the Council of Small company Organisations Australia (COSBOA) surveyed small company sector leaders and discovered 44% had been digitally attacked.
The Cyber Wardens online training for small firms won $23 million in last month’s government budget.
COSBOA CEO Luke Achterstraat said cyber intrusions were a major issue for small firms, which seldom had time to safeguard their computer systems.
“For small businesses, it’s actually quite costly for them to become cyber-safe and engage in a proper cybersecurity plan amongst the hundreds of other things they need to juggle,” he added.
Multi-factor device security, avoiding sharing passwords, and using multiple passwords for devices and accounts were basic actions small organizations should take.
“There are very many businesses we’re aware of where it can be a business-ending incident, so we’re really trying to raise awareness of that so people understand it’s really worth taking the time understanding your obligations and getting some of those practical tips that Cyber Wardens is all about as to make yourself cyber-aware,” he said.
