What is Social Engineering and How Do I Protect My Business from It?

Social engineering is on the rise, and that is just a fancy term for bad guys trying to steal your money!  Your best defense is to be on guard and confirm the legitimacy of all payment requests.

1)      Implement Controls on Payment Authorization – Keeping more than one person involved in all payment transactions will add a second set of eyes to confirm the legitimacy of the request.

2)      Verify the Vendor – Require vendor onboarding for additional scrutiny and confirmation of legitimacy.  Pay only documented vendors.

3)      Use MFA for email and financial systems – Multi Factor Authentication is a higher level of protection for your systems.

4)      Ensure that all Staff follows standardized workflows and reports any suspicious requests.  Conduct Staff training on the latest phishing indicators and impersonation scenarios.

 U   Use Anti Fraud Ink on checks - use special ink on any mailed checks that cannot be erased/modified.

According to RPS, there were over $3billion in losses in 2025 and the number keeps growing.  Don’t become part of the statistics!

Things to watch for:

-          Emails –thieves are becoming more sophisticated which makes the threat harder to detect.  Avoid clicking email links.  Call directly to confirm legitimacy of the request.

-          Phone calls – voices are being cloned and may sound like someone you may know.  Always directly confirm any uncommon requests following any call.

-          Zoom meetings – avoid online meetings with any irregular parties. 

-          Requests for Wire Transfers – watch for spoofed requests or unusual bank accounts

-          Synthetic voices – as the theft sophistication evolves, watch for multi-channel impersonation which may use email and phone and online meetings.

Thanks to RPS (Risk Placement Services) for their recent Client Advisory highlighting this growing concern. https://www.rpsins.com/products-and-programs/cyber-insurance/

Angelyn Treutel Zeringue is President of SouthGroup Insurance Services, a CPA, PWCAM, CBIA, and licensed Trusted Choice Insurance Agent.  Reach Angelyn at www.southgroupgulfcoast.com, (228) 385-1177, or azeringue@southgroup.net.

Your Trusted Choice Insurance Agent, SouthGroup Insurance Gulf Coast wants you to know you can call on us with your questions or concerns seeking more helpful advice or answers to your pressing insurance questions. A full insurance review is always your best bet to make sure you have all of the adequate coverage for your personal insurance needs. Remember, we offer a personalized insurance review to anyone who is interested at no charge – just visit any one of our convenient locations!

To help you through the maze of coverages, carriers, premiums, and find ways to save money on your insurance, if you are on the Gulf Coast, contact your Trusted Choice agent, SouthGroup-Gulf Coast http://www.southgroupgulfcoast.com/ , SERVICE TEAM: Angelyn Treutel Zeringue, Tammy Garfield, Tammy Hogue, Anne Gillam, Mark Strickland, Joseph Eagle, Michael Scardino, Melinda Teaford, Wendy Butler, Gabriella Scardino, Tiffany Nguyen, Alexa Weldon, Denise Pickers and Brittany Eagle at SouthGroup Gulf Coast. You can reach us by snail-mail: 412 Hwy 90, Suite 6, Bay St Louis MS 39520, email: info@southgroupgulfcoast.com, phone or text:228-466-4498 or 228-385-1177, fax:888-415-8922, FaceBook www.facebook.com/southgroup.gulfcoast , or Twitter www.twitter.com/atreutel ! We now have more locations to serve you - 2505 Pass Road - Biloxi and 412 Hwy 90 Ste 6-Bay Saint Louis, MS.

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