Don’t Let Cybercriminals Haunt You this Halloween — Verify, Verify, Verify!

Don’t Let Cybercriminals Haunt You this Halloween — Verify, Verify, Verify!

“If you suspect deceit, hit delete!” (Online cybersecurity slogan) October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a good time to note that as cybercrime continues to grow, more and more businesses and individuals are falling victim to the dreaded “BEC” or “Business Email Compromise” fraud.  The million-dollar question: Who takes the hit? Typically in a BEC fraud, email or other electronic communications between a creditor and debtor (often a seller and buyer, or service provider and client) are hacked by criminals, who con the debtor into paying what they owe into the fraudster’s bank account. By the time the parties realise they’ve…
Read More
Verify Banking Details Before Paying Any Invoice – You’re at Risk, Not the Creditor

Verify Banking Details Before Paying Any Invoice – You’re at Risk, Not the Creditor

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (Benjamin Franklin’s warning to fire-threatened Philadelphians in 1736) Cases of Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud continue to surge, and recent High Court decisions have confirmed that it’s up to you to verify that you are paying into the correct bank account.   How does BEC work and who is at risk? BEC fraud involves cybercriminals impersonating your trusted contacts (e.g. suppliers and professional advisors) in fraudulent emails that look genuine. The idea is to trick you into making payment into the scammer’s account.  Everyone’s at risk, but BEC is particularly rife in…
Read More
How Does the New Corruption Reporting Law Affect Your Business?

How Does the New Corruption Reporting Law Affect Your Business?

“In defence of Madiba’s legacy, we will continue to wage a relentless war on corruption…” (President Cyril Ramaphosa) You may have seen mention of the new amendment to the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities (POCCA) Act that imposes severe penalties for any failure to report corruption. If you did see it, you quite possibly thought “Doesn’t apply to me, I’m just a small business”. Wrong! Let’s have a look at who the new law applies to, what it requires of you, the risk you run if you don’t pay it due attention, and how you should manage this new…
Read More