6 Things to Know to Avoid Cyberattacks

A few weeks ago, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a stark warning about an increase in phishing scams targeting financial institutions and their clients. Such cyberattacks often start with an email, call, text or encrypted message that falsely claims to be from a financial institution, government or regulatory agency. Social Security check issues are frequently a focal point, as are fake threats supposedly coming from the Internal Revenue Service. In other cases, a scammer will try to impersonate a trusted colleague or client. In virtually all cases, the goal is to steal money, private information or anything else potentially valuable that the offender can get their hands on. Virtually any news item, positive or negative, can become the basis for a new scam, FINRA warns, from a pandemic to a natural disaster to the launch of a new product or company. Ultimately, advisors have a duty to protect their clients and their financial institutions from cyber threats, and part of that duty is to keep up with the latest emerging threats. See the slideshow for a rundown of six insights about the evolving fraud landscape, as presented during a cybersecurity best practices session at the 2023 Raymond James Elevate conference, which just concluded in Orlando. (Image: Adobe Stock)