Watch out.. scammers about!

Monklands residents are being warned to be on their guard when sharing information online, and be suspicious of calls from banks, following a rise in fraudulent calls.

Known as a vishing scam, attackers call a victim’s phone pretending to be from a legitimate source in the hope of gaining sensitive, personal information or carrying out a fraudulent bank transaction. The warning, from cyber security advisers at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), follows an apparent spate of incidents where people have been caught out by the fake calls.

Gerry Grant, Chief Ethical Hacker with the SBRC, said scammers will usually conduct background research before contacting a victim and urges the public to be careful with what information is available.

He said:“We leak information online at an alarming rate and so the attacker just needs to know where to look to find out who you bank with and answers to your security questions.

“Once enough detail has been gathered, either through just looking online or through other techniques, the attack can begin.

“These scammers are very determined, so if someone pretending to be from your bank calls and you’re not expecting it you should be suspicious no matter how genuine it may sound.”

For further advice, visit www. sbrcentre.co.uk