Cyber Crime is one of the top issues our industry faces right now. Cyber Crime is a multi-billion-dollar industry and it is only growing. The most common thing people think of when they hear Cyber Crime is bad websites or emails, but it goes much further than that: Phishing, Spear phishing, CEO Fraud, Vishing, SMiShing, Baiting, and Tailgating are all top scams.

At TitleSmart, we decided to face this issue head on. We knew that this was something we could not avoid and put steps in place in order to educate ourselves and our customers on the dangers and potential threats of Cyber Crime. Cyber Crime can be a scary thing, but there are ways to avoid it to keep yourself and your customers safe.

 

  1. Gain Knowledge

Be sure to educate yourself and your staff on the dangers and consequences. Email hacking is the largest venue for scamming so that is the best place to start. Download our “Email Safety Tips” for information on how to spot hacker emails. Phishing, which utilizes either email or social media messages in order to compromise the victim, is the most popular form of email hacking but be aware that hackers often use multiple scams in unison.

 

  1. Gain Necessary Skepticism

When we started our training at TitleSmart we were often questioned by our staff on why we were taking this so seriously. And the reason is that Cyber Crime is the fastest growing crime industry and is expected to reach a global cost (lost money and cost of recovery) of $6 trillion by 2021. It only takes 10 minutes to Google the most updated code to bypass email firewalls so it is imperative that you train yourself to see the scam before it is too late!

 

  1. Take Steps

Lastly, don’t try to tackle everything all at once. Pick one area that you want to be more secure in and tackle that first. Then, tackle the next area needing more security and fix and perfect that. Security is best achieved in steps.  

 

At TitleSmart we are driven to ensure our clients safety. During a real estate transaction, it is imperative that you feel that you are in capable hands. In the world we live in today, be sure to educate yourself on the dangers of technology and be educated so you can thwart it. Look for Part Two of this blog where we will dive deeper into the different types of scams and how you can look for them!