As an FBI special agent for two decades, Scott Augenbaum joined the fight on terrorism and worked on cases of white-collar crime. But his work on cyber crime continues, even six years after retiring the badge as head of the Computer Intrusion/Counterintelligence Squad in Nashville.
Almost 90 percent of cyber crimes today could have been easily prevented.Scott Augenbaum, former FBI agent
Augenbaum joined Regions executives and Commercial and Wealth clients recently for fraud prevention seminars in Nashville and Houston with one goal: teaching others how to be on the alert for scammers.
“Almost 90 percent of cyber crimes today could have been easily prevented,” Augenbaum said. “That’s why you play such an important role in keeping yourself and your family safe.”
In 90-minute sessions, Augenbaum covered a wide array of topics, joining Regions Bank’s Jeff Taylor in Nashville and Bryan Ford in Houston. Taylor is the head of commercial fraud forensics at Regions while Ford serves as head of Corporate Sales and Treasury Management.
Getting to Know You
“I’ve been telling people for decades – social engineering is the No. 1 tool of criminals,” Augenbaum said.
Social engineering is a form of fraud that works through deception and manipulation. Often, it begins with information readily available online. Criminals then use that information to gain trust. Augenbaum pointed to imposter scams, where one receives a text message alert about a potential fraud, but it can be a scam to gain more access.
“You call the number, and they say, ‘(Brand-name) Fraud department.’ Then they ask, ‘What’s your name? Can you verify your date of birth?’”
Don’t Fall for the Fake Message
So, what do you if you get such an alert? Don’t search for the number to call – criminals often sponsor fake websites to show up at the top of the search. Instead, call the number on the back of your card or go to a number on your account.
“What we have done at Regions is to initiate a campaign that we call Stop-Call-Confirm,” Ford said. “Stop before responding, Call a known contact using a known phone number to Confirm that the request is legitimate.”
Stop, Call and Confirm is an ongoing Regions’ effort to help promote fraud awareness.
“Fraud awareness is really the main defense,” Ford said.
Business Email Compromise
It’s really easy for fraudsters to create spam emails using free accounts. Jeff Taylor, head of commercial fraud forensics at Region
Taylor noted that there are three popular forms of business email compromise using emails: Executive impersonation, vendor impersonation and employee impersonation.
“It’s really easy for fraudsters to create spam emails using free accounts,” Taylor said.
Scammers can use these imposter emails to get wire transfers, often sent to accounts in other countries. And that makes it almost impossible to recover.
“Do you think we get cooperation from Russia? From China? From Iran or Nigeria?” Augenbaum said.
The answer, of course, is an obvious no.
“If clients were to practice stop, call and confirm, we believe a significant number of these email intrusions would stop,” Ford added.
Information on the Dark Web
When prompted, Augenbaum said this is what keeps him up at night. And with data breaches becoming more common, this is now a concern for everyone.
“The first thing you need to do is freeze your credit,” Augenbaum said. By staying on top of your credit, you can get alerts about potential fraud before it happens.
Elder/Romance Scams
Taylor said the romance scam cases he sees are heartbreaking, with people giving away life savings to people they’ve never met in far-off places.
Augenbaum said it’s one of the most challenging scams he sees and is working on a training program for a senior living facility. But these scams often happen in private, with victims not sharing what’s going on with friends and family.
Staying Safe
“I’m here to say you don’t have to become a victim of cybercrime,” Augenbaum said.
But to stay safe takes a little work. For businesses and nonprofits, it means having processes in place to avoid getting scammed. For individuals, it means limiting information readily available to the public, not re-using passwords across sites and using two-factor authentication whenever possible. That’s often a hurdle that stops fraudsters from finishing the con.
And, finally, know that no matter how safe you THINK you are, everyone’s a potential target.
“I once sat down with an organization that said they weren’t concerned because they were only a $300 million company,” Augenbaum said. “Criminals don’t care.”
An author based in Nashville, Augenbaum now works at educating the public about cyber threats. During his Regions’ appearances, he shared his 4 truths of Cybersecurity:
- Nobody ever expects to be a victim — until it’s too late.
- When your money is stolen, getting it back is nearly impossible.
- The bad guys? They’re usually overseas, making it extremely difficult to bring them to justice.
- A majority of cybercrime could have been prevented if people were armed with the right information.
Additional Resources from Doing More Today
The information presented is general in nature and should not be considered, legal, accounting or tax advice. Regions reminds its customers that they should be vigilant about fraud and security and that they are responsible for taking action to protect their computer systems. Fraud prevention requires a continuous review of your policies and practices, as the threat evolves daily. There is no guarantee that all fraudulent transactions will be prevented or that related financial losses will not occur. Visit regions.com/STOPFRAUD or speak with your Banker for further information on how you can help prevent fraud.