3 cybersecurity scams Birmingham needs to know about + 5 tips on how to avoid them

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We’ve all experienced the phone calls, voicemails and emails trying to get sensitive information that will give someone access to our money. All together, Alabamians lost over $235M in cybersecurity-related crimes in 2022, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). We spoke with two local experts at Regions about three of the most common scams and got their five top tips for how to protect your money.

#banksneveraskthat

For Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we reached out to our LinkedIn audience to see what percentage of them had been affected by the three most common scams. Not surprisingly, 71% of 334 respondents said they had experienced all three.

FYI: #banksneveraskthat is one of the hashtags the banking industry is using to raise awareness about the kind of information your bank will never ask you for.

Phishing, vishing + smishing: know the difference

Ivana Cojbasic (L) and Joshua Campbell (R) both work in cybersecurity at Regions. (Cojbasic, Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

Ivana Cojbasic, Chief Information Security Officer at Regions and Joshua Campbell, Head of Cyber Intel, Awareness and Governance at Regions sat down with us to explain the difference between the three most common cyberscams that consumers often see.

When you get a fake email, text or phone call from someone pretending to be a business or a person that you know, the goal is to get you to reveal sensitive personal information such as your bank account or login details:

• Phishing: Fake emails + websites
• Vishing: Fake phone calls
• Smishing: Fake text messages

Learn how to protect yourself or your business from cyberattacks and fraud with Regions’ resources.

5 ways to protect yourself from cybersecurity scams

Whatever your age and whatever you do for a living, it’s important to be on the lookout for these and other types of scams. Here are Ivana Cojbasic and Joshua Campbell’s top five tips:

1. Update your devices regularly with the newest software updates

“Software companies put in long hours developing protections against vulnerabilities.

If you choose not to install these patches in a timely manner, then you’re giving the cyber threat actors a head start to develop and exploit your device. As you get alerts on your phone, laptop or tablet that there is a new software release, make sure you act as quickly as possible.”

Ivana Cojbasic, Chief Information Security Officer, Regions

2. Be skeptical + do your own research

Approach any message sent with a sense of urgency very carefully. When in doubt, reach out to the actual person or company through a different outlet to confirm if they are really the one trying to reach you. Always double-check the return address to see who sent the email.

Do your own research to confirm the authenticity of a website—if it seems suspicious, it probably is.

“By practicing methods to verify the legitimacy of communications and devices, we can all help protect ourselves and our loved ones from cyber threats.”

Ivana Cojbasic, Chief Information Security Officer, Regions

3. Do not reply

When you suspect fraudulent activity, just don’t message back. This way, the scammer has no way to know if the message reached you.

4. Safeguard your privacy

Review your privacy settings on social media—go for the highest privacy settings you feel comfortable with to limit access to your personal information by people you don’t know.

5. Set up multi-factor authentication

If a website has to text or call you with an access code before you can log in, you’ve already set multi-factor authentication up. If you have the option to do this and haven’t taken it, now is the time to do so.

Want to work for a company that cares about cybersecurity + the people who work there? Regions is hiring.

You deserve for your information + identity to be protected. See how Regions Bank safeguards customers.

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Bring your whole self to work: Regions has a passion for creating an inclusive environment that promotes and values diversity of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sex, pregnancy, and many other primary and secondary dimensions that make each of us unique as individuals and provide valuable perspective that makes us a better company and employer. More importantly, Regions recognizes that creating a workplace where everyone, regardless of background, can do their best work is the right thing to do.