The UK’s cyber security agency has issued new guidance on how businesses can better produce communications customers can trust following a rise in messaging scams posing as popular brands.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has asked firms to follow nine steps when contacting customers, including making messages simple and consistent, not asking for personal details and clearly publicising the company contact details they use to help customers more easily identify genuine communications.
It comes in response to an increase in scam phone calls, emails and text messages, including fake parcel deliveries and alerts from scammers posing as high street banks as more people turned to online shopping during the pandemic.
The NCSC said cyber criminals often look to capitalise on current trends to trick people into sharing sensitive personal information and said businesses doing more to clearly distinguish official communications was vital to combat the problem.
“Most of us will have received a suspected dodgy text or call during the pandemic and we know these scams are getting more convincing,” NCSC technical director, Dr Ian Levy, said.
“To counter this, we need legitimate customer text and telephone messages to be secure with clear signposts of authenticity that give confidence to customers.
“I’d urge any organisations that contact their customers via SMS or telephone to consult our new guidance and ensure they’re doing all they can to protect their customers…
