Social Engineering

Don’t be caught out by cybercrime and social engineering

Cybercrime has now become more common than physical crime in the UK, on average, consumers spend £250 and 21 hours per person each year dealing with online crime.

How do they do it?

Social engineering involves tricking people into giving away sensitive information by pretending to be a trustworthy source, such as a bank or tech support person. They do this over the phone, via email, text message or in person.

What are the criminals after?

Cyber criminals want information they can use to either gain access to your accounts such as email, website or bank accounts. Or they want information they can use to create accounts in your name for illegal activities which includes selling them on to other criminals. Examples of information they would want to steal are email addresses, bank details, passwords and any personal information that can be used to identify you.

The risk to Royal Mail Group

Social engineering is used on large corporate companies as often as it is on individuals. This is due to a lot of work being done between suppliers and even internal teams is done over email and phone, often with little proof.

Social engineering could be used to gain access to your work machine or accounts, to trick you into disclosing confidential information or used to make you do an illegal action such as paying an "unknown supplier".

Protect Royal Mail Group and yourself from cyber crime

You can avoid the consequences of cybercrime if you remain vigilant and aware of the risks. You can do your bit at work and at home by remembering these simple tips:

• Don’t connect to unsecured Wi-Fi and use VPN to access the network remotely
• Be wary of suspicious calls, unsolicited contact or requests for information
• Look out for phishing emails with suspicious links or attachments
• Report all incidents to the RMG IT Service Desk