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Be wary of scams during pandemic
Lawyers working from home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak must be on alert for “predatory cyber scammers”, says one principal.
Jerome Doraisamy
At this critical juncture, it is imperative that lawyers are aware that scammers are looking to take advantage of those working from home or surfing the internet whilst in isolation at home, says EAGLEGATE principal Nicole Murdoch.
“They regard the upheavals caused by the coronavirus shutdowns as a magic time for them to strike as people adjust to working from home, or trawl the net looking for entertainment or distractions. People should not let down their guard because these are very strange times,” she said.
Scammers will be looking to target job seekers with fake job advertisements, or bogus links to official coronavirus information websites which in reality is just a backdoor for installing viruses and ransomware in home devices, she noted.
Ms Murdoch said that it is crucial to be suspicious of any SMS or email messages received from someone you do not know.
“Do not simply open or download apps or files that may be unfamiliar to you. If there’s any doubt at all, go to the official website for the organisation and see if you can verify the authenticity of a message. Clicking on unknown links, could redirect your phone or computer to a website where nasty predators will download malware, or a computer virus, onto your phone or PC,” she advised.
“It’s all about stealing your banking details to hack into your account and drain your money. They are also targeting your superannuation by offering to ‘assist’ you [to] access the funds. In reality they are only assisting themselves.”
The Australian Cyber Security Centre is expecting a flood of new complaints, she said, over scammers offering to fix computers or upgrade them due to the COVID-19 work from home necessity.
Lawyers should never “let anyone have remote access to your computer, because it gives the hacker control over your computer”, Ms Murdoch warned.
“From there they can monitor your emails and even your keystrokes to determine your passwords,” she concluded.
“We are all going through a lot at present and we don’t need the added stress of having to deal with theft.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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