Held every October, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online. Week one was all about recognizing the online threats and taking responsibility for your security, Own IT. Week two gave you simple steps to make your online presence safe and secure, Secure IT.  Week three covered the threats that are out there and how to protect yourself, Protect IT.

...

I sat there for a minute, thinking about the conversation and what just happened, and got angry. The social engineer had almost fooled me. After I cooled off, I called bank security to report the incident. I thought about just how close I had come to being part of a social engineering con. I thought about where that social engineer might have used the data. It could have been used to open a fraudulent account at another bank, or for a fake identity to sell on the dark web."

Facebook Scam

...

Davin received a private message on Facebook from the ‘Facebook Freedom Lottery’ claiming he and others had won amounts up to $150 000. At first, he didn’t believe it. Businesses don’t give money away out of the blue and to win in a lottery you need to buy a ticket.Image Modified

However, moments later his cousin who he hadn’t spoken to in some time sent him a Facebook message about the winnings. His cousin claimed that he had also won and noticed Davin’s name on the list of winners. He claimed he had already received his winnings after going through a relatively easy process.

Trusting his cousin, Davin began the process for accepting the prize money which required him to first pay a small upfront fee of $250. Once this was paid, he was to receive the money into his nominated bank account for which he provided details. The next day he was informed that since the prize money was sitting in a bank in America, he would have to pay an ‘international transfer fee’ which could not be subtracted from the winnings for some complex legal reason.

Davin reasoned that since his cousin had managed to receive the money, then he must have gone through the same process and so he would also pay this additional fee.

Over the next two weeks, Davin paid five more fees, each time believing it would be the last. Eventually, in desperation, he spoke to his cousin and asked how many fees he paid before he received his winnings. Davin’s cousin had no idea what he was talking about and told him that he had only just regained control of his Facebook account after it had been hacked.

It then became clear to Davin that he had been scammed. There never was any prize money and the Facebook message was part of the scam. By this time, Davin had already sent $1500 and handed over a wealth of personal information to scammers.

Helpful Links

...

Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Awareness Web Site  CIS HelpDesk Phishing Scams Page  The National Security Agency (NSA) Information Page  National Cyber Awareness Alerts 

CIS HelpDesk Support and Hours

...