Got the new job or big promotion? We all want to share our good news but beware, scammers are watching your posts too.
“I think I can usually spot it. It is like AI generated or just sounds unnatural,” one neighbor said.
Do not be so sure, say cyber experts.
“When you post on LinkedIn that you got a new job, you are also telling all the adversaries, ‘hey, a new sucker was just born.’”
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Caleb Barlow sees a lot of on-the-job cyber scams in his business. It’s so pervasive companies are now expected to spend $212 billion on IT security next year, up 15% from this year.
“There’s a very good chance that 3 or 4% of all the email you get on any given day is trying to force you into something,” Barlow said.
It’s not just email, scammers are getting better with text -- even pretending to be your boss.
“I would probably respond to that if I had my boss’s name and then my name as well, I would definitely fall for that,” another neighbor said.
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The Better Business Bureau says scammers usually ask you to pick up gift cards for a client, wire funds to another business, or provide the scammer with personal information for HR, all of which would steal your money or identity.
Scammers can get your phone number from any number of places -- including resumes posted online.
From there, it is just a matter of connecting the dots through sites like LinkedIn, finding your new boss or maybe your new direct reports. Scammers can also use AI to scour their social media helping add a personal touch to messages.
In many cases -- Barlow says you are not the real target, just a pawn.
“An adversary got a victim that happened to work in a finance department to click on a link. They then used that access to communicate back and forth with the company’s bank,” Barlow said. “It was not until the very last second that someone noticed something was off and they were able to shut it down.
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