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Fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of the disruption caused by COVID-19 to target businesses. The most common type of scam involves the attacker impersonating one of your suppliers, which will normally look something like this: If you ever receive an email asking for a payment to be sent to a new bank account, contact the sender via telephone to verify the request. It’s important to be aware that fraudsters: Will make the email look like it has been sent from a known contact or supplier Can make it look like the request is replying to an earlier email Try to make the attempt look as normal as possible – e.g. expected value, normal timing, genuine invoice numbers, etc. Best practice advice: Always call a known telephone number; do not use any numbers given in the email Ensure that two employees check any payment being sent to a new beneficiary Be particularly wary of requests to send a payment to an account held in a different name, or located in a different country The pandemic is already causing significant challenges for businesses; by following the guidelines above, you can help ensure that fraud does not add to the burden.

Fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of the disruption caused by COVID-19 to target businesses. The most common type of scam involves the attacker impersonating one of your suppliers, which will normally look something like this:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/rcs/v1/media/citigpa/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/626c341647568943d2c3170a.png" />
If you ever receive an email asking for a payment to be sent to a new bank account, contact the sender via telephone to verify the request. It&rsquo;s important to be aware that fraudsters:
<ul>
<li>Will make the email look like it has been sent from a known contact or supplier</li>
<li>Can make it look like the request is replying to an earlier email</li>
<li>Try to make the attempt look as normal as possible &ndash; e.g. expected value, normal timing, genuine invoice numbers, etc. </li>
</ul>
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/rcs/v1/media/citigpa/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/626c3436a1cb1a550fcdd85f.png" /> 
<h4 class="text-cyan" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-weight: lighter; width: 1110px; text-align: left; font-size: 1.625rem;">Best practice advice:</h4>
<div class="mb-15" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">
<div class="row row-eq-height" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex: 1 0 100%; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-right: -15px; margin-left: -15px;">
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<ul>
<li>Always call a known telephone number; do not use any numbers given in the email</li>
<li>Ensure that two employees check any payment being sent to a new beneficiary</li>
<li>Be particularly wary of requests to send a payment to an account held in a different name, or located in a different country</li>
</ul>
The pandemic is already causing significant challenges for businesses; by following the guidelines above, you can help ensure that fraud does not add to the burden.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
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</div>
</div>
</div>

Fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of the disruption caused by COVID-19 to target businesses. Learn what a typical email attack might look like.

This is what fraud looks like

Common Passwords Data breaches are now a regular news story, which prompted SplashData to analyze over 5 million passwords that were leaked online during 2018. Their research showed that the following 25 passwords were the most commonly used; each of which could be cracked by a fraudster in a matter of seconds. How Fraudsters Attack It’s far easier to create a strong password if you understand how a cyber-criminal might try to hack your account. The hacking process has been industrialized and the majority of compromises are now completed by automated software. The hacking programs start by trying the most frequently used passwords, before progressing into common words and phrases, such as people’s names, places and sports teams. The program then proceeds to work through all of the words in the dictionary, before finally attempting millions of combinations of random characters, until the password is cracked or the hacker moves on to an easier target. The below examples illustrate how long it would take a hacker with a common home computer to crack each password: Tips for Creating a Strong Password • Passwords should be at least eight characters long and include a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. As a general rule, the longer the password, the stronger it becomes. • Alternating between upper case and lower case letters helps to strengthen the password. For example, the word ‘transfer’ could be typed as ‘tRAnsFeR’. • Use “hacker speak” by substituting letters for similar looking numbers or special characters. For example, the word ‘banking’ could be typed as ‘b@Nk1nG’. • Basing your password on a phrase can help you remember more complex combinations. For example ‘HumPty dUmpty S@T’. • Another good way of remembering a more complex password is to think of a sentence and then use the first letter of each word. For example, ‘Boston is 4 hours from New York City by car’ could be typed as ‘Bi4hfNYCbc’. Common Mistakes to Avoid • Do not use personal information, common words, names, sports teams or places in your passwords. • Adding a single digit number to the end of a well-known word (for example ‘computer1’) does not make it any more secure. • Do not reuse the same password for different online accounts, as a single breach could result in multiple compromises. • Never write down your passwords; they can easily be stolen from your computer or desk. • Do not share your passwords with friends, colleagues, or anyone who requests this information over the telephone.

Common Passwords
Data breaches are now a regular news story, which prompted SplashData to analyze over 5 million passwords that were leaked online during 2018. Their research showed that the following 25 passwords were the most commonly used; each of which could be cracked by a fraudster in a matter of seconds.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/rcs/v1/media/citigpa/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/618eb8232639e9726b325590.png" />
How Fraudsters Attack 
It&rsquo;s far easier to create a strong password if you understand how a cyber-criminal might try to hack your account. The hacking process has been industrialized and the majority of compromises are now completed by automated software. 
The hacking programs start by trying the most frequently used passwords, before progressing into common words and phrases, such as people&rsquo;s names, places and sports teams. The program then proceeds to work through all of the words in the dictionary, before finally attempting millions of combinations of random characters, until the password is cracked or the hacker moves on to an easier target.
The below examples illustrate how long it would take a hacker with a common home computer to crack each password: 
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/rcs/v1/media/citigpa/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/618eb85c9236c83314de0193.png" />
Tips for Creating a Strong Password 
&bull; Passwords should be at least eight characters long and include a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. As a general rule, the longer the password, the stronger it becomes. 
&bull; Alternating between upper case and lower case letters helps to strengthen the password. For example, the word &lsquo;transfer&rsquo; could be typed as &lsquo;tRAnsFeR&rsquo;. 
&bull; Use &ldquo;hacker speak&rdquo; by substituting letters for similar looking numbers or special characters. For example, the word &lsquo;banking&rsquo; could be typed as &lsquo;b@Nk1nG&rsquo;. 
&bull; Basing your password on a phrase can help you remember more complex combinations. For example &lsquo;HumPty dUmpty S@T&rsquo;. 
&bull; Another good way of remembering a more complex password is to think of a sentence and then use the first letter of each word. For example, &lsquo;Boston is 4 hours from New York City by car&rsquo; could be typed as &lsquo;Bi4hfNYCbc&rsquo;.
Common Mistakes to Avoid 
&bull; Do not use personal information, common words, names, sports teams or places in your passwords. 
&bull; Adding a single digit number to the end of a well-known word (for example &lsquo;computer1&rsquo;) does not make it any more secure. 
&bull; Do not reuse the same password for different online accounts, as a single breach could result in multiple compromises. 
&bull; Never write down your passwords; they can easily be stolen from your computer or desk. 
&bull; Do not share your passwords with friends, colleagues, or anyone who requests this information over the telephone.
&nbsp;
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Password strength is an important component in protecting against fraud, but a frightening number of online users are still using predictable passwords.

Creating Strong Passwords

Watch this video to understand the different ways fraudsters are using email to target businesses and ways you can protect yourself from common scams.&nbsp;

Video: understanding email scams

As digital technology continues to transform the world around us, fraudsters are becoming braver, more creative and increasingly sophisticated. At Citi, we understand the challenges you face and are passionate about sharing knowledge and best practices to help protect your business.

Cybersecurity and Fraud Prevention

INFOGRAPHIC

As businesses around the world have invested in cybersecurity, we have seen a shift in the way that fraudsters attack their victims. Scams have now emerged as the primary fraud risk for businesses, with criminals increasingly attempting to ‘hack’ people rather than machines. Watch this webinar about the scams that are targeting US companies, as well as the measures you can take to help protect your business.