Cybersecurity Alerts for Lawyers: New Identity Theft Tactic

The website you’re viewing wants to make sure you’re a human, so you have to click on all the motorcycles. That one’s technically a scooter. Should you click on it? Then you realize that if a robot can perform surgery, it can probably pick out the motorcycles anyway.

But what about this one? It wants you to type in a bunch of weird stuff like “Win * R -> CTRL + V->”.  

DON’T DO IT.

This isn’t a site asking you to prove you’re not a robot (again, a robot could probably complete that task)—it’s a new method of fraud. Type in those characters and you’ll probably find your system infected with malware that could access your computer or phone and steal your usernames, passwords and other sensitive information. A real prove-you’re-a-human program would never ask you to hit a series of keys on your keyboard.

New methods of cyber fraud seem to pop up faster than targeting calls from football referees and are exponentially more frustrating. Wondering if you’ve been hacked? Here are some signs to look for:

• Your device is running slowly.

• It freezes, crashes or locks up.

• If you have a webcam connected, sometimes the power light turns on and off on its own.

• The device seems hotter than normal, or the fan makes more noise than usual.

• Your passwords don’t work.

• Your searches get redirected.

• Your homepage has inexplicably changed.

• Suddenly there are new add-ons and toolbars in your browser that you didn’t add.

To protect yourself, install a trustworthy antivirus/antimalware program and keep it updated, turn off your devices when you’re not using them and only install new apps and software from sources you trust.

If you suspect you’ve been the victim of identity theft, contact your bank and credit card companies immediately. Ask for credit reports from all three credit bureaus, freeze your credit and issue a fraud alert with them. It would also be a good idea to file a police report. And be sure to follow up with all of those.

Remember, the sooner you get on top of anything suspicious, the better the outcome is likely to be.

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About the Author

Nancy Cooper, Underwriting Assistant

Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South

Written by Nancy Cooper, AIM’s underwriting assistant to Ben Parks, Vice President – Underwriting. Nancy is also our eagle-eyed proofreader of the monthly newsletter. She enjoys talking with our insureds and helping them with their policy questions.