(A Light Hearted Look at Phishing)

West Wyalong man Wazza Whiting is in a celebratory mood tonight after announcing the inheritance of $10 million dollars from a recently deceased member of the Nigerian Royal Family.  It was cold VB’s all round at the Crooked Mile RSL as Wazza shouted the bar stating, “I’m rich now, so when we’re done with the V-Bangers, we might even have some of those fancy inner city craft beers”.

When asked how it came about that an unemployed self proclaimed entrepeneur  from country NSW was the beneficiary of a West African fortune, Wazza was remarkable upfront. “It’s was easy”, he said, “I simply responded to an email asking for my bank account details and it just developed from there – the Nigerians have been very helpful in guiding me through the whole process”.

“What can I say, I’m a “clicker”, I just love to click on links in emails or websites, pretty much anywhere really. You never know what you will find, but there is definitely opportunity” said Wazza. Of course there have been setbacks along the way, not every click turned out for the best. Wazza has been married 7 times to Eastern European women he has never actually met and he has had to pay his fair share of ransomware demands to keep his computer working, but he believes it all worthwhile now that he has finally landed the ‘big one’.

But despite the celebrations, it seems that Wazza is actually still yet to receive any money. According to Wazza, the Nigerian legal system is very complex. It seems there are many checks and balances and hurdles to be negotiated. But the local team on the ground in Lagos has been very helpful. So far Wazza has sent around $10,000 to the Nigerian lawyers to facilitate the inheritance, and he is assured that it will only be a few more thousand before the full inheritance is released. According to Wazza, this is a small price to pay for such a large reward!

We will await further developments and keep you posted on progress to see how Wazza gets on with the delicate task of extracting money from the Nigerian Royals. In the meantime, we are happy to avail ourselves of the hospitality of the Crooked Mile RSL and enjoy another cold VB.

On a serious note though, clicking on phishing links presents a serious risk to business. And whilst (we hope at least) that most people will not fall for the old fashioned Nigerian inheritance scam, there are certainly many more sophisticated phishing attacks that are much more difficult to detect.  User awareness training is a complete field in itself and certainly worth considering to keep your envionrment and users safe. At the very least, consider these two simple strategies for helping to not get caught:

• If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is – just don’t click.
• Take a second to pause, perhaps ask a colleague and think before you click.

Counterhack  offer a range of comprehensive cyber security services to ensure your business is secure. From user awareness training and penetration testing right through to vulnerability management, security event management and consulting, Counterhack have a range of services to meet your business requirements irrespective of size.

Speak to Counterhack today to see how we can meet you cyber security needs.