Fraud Watch July 2024: CrowdStrike Update, Elder Investment Fraud, Pig Butcher Scams

Dig in to critical topics you need to be aware of to keep your financial assets safe. We have information on the CrowdStrike incident, elder investment scams, and pig butchering scams, where scammers build trust to orchestrate financial fraud.

Stay informed and vigilant with this month’s Fraud Watch!

Top 3 Ways to Keep Your Money Safe:

1. Do not give your login credentials to anyone — including anyone claiming to be from BankSouth.
2. Don’t share your personal information or account numbers. BankSouth and other financial institutions will never ask for your account number, personal information, or login credentials over the phone or email.
3. Avoid clicking on any links in any unsolicited emails or text messages. When in doubt, don’t click.

CrowdStrike Update

We’re sure you’ve heard about the massive outage to Windows machines caused by a faulty update deployed by cybersecurity giant, CrowdStrike. Good news is, BankSouth was unaffected by this incident.

What to Know as a BankSouth Customer:

• We are aware of the continuing situation and our security teams are actively monitoring our systems throughout the day, everyday.
• Our security measures are robust and are designed to withstand such incidents.
• You can continue using our services with confidence, knowing we prioritize your data security above all else.

Elder Investment Scams

According to the FBI’s 2023 Elder Fraud Report, elder investment scams exceeded $1.2 billion. Investment scams are designed to exploit your savings, retirement funds, and other investments. These scams can take a number of forms, including fake investment opportunities, Ponzi schemes, or misleading advice resulting in financial losses.

To protect yourself, be skeptical of unsolicited investment offers and discuss possible investment opportunities with trusted family, friends, or professional advisors before making any decisions.

Pig Butchering/Dating Scams

Pig butchering is when a fictitious online profile, think social media or dating apps, aims to build relationships, often romantic, to “fatten them up” for a later financial slaughter. After a close connection and trust is established, the fraudster manipulates its victim to invest in fake investments or high return opportunities.

Once the scammer has acquired a significant amount of money, they disappear, leaving victims with high financial losses. To avoid pig butchering, be cautious of any unsolicited investment advice from someone you’ve known for a short amount of time or with someone you have online relationships with.

Stay Protected From Scams

We see fraud attempts almost every day. While we do our best to keep every customer protected, there are ways you can prevent fraud from happening to you.

Stay one step ahead and bookmark our help article on avoiding and reporting scams. We update this article regularly to keep you in the know of the latest scams.

• Recently reported scams
• Tips to avoid scams
• How to report a scam
• What we WILL and WILL NOT ask for to verify your identity

More tips to avoid fraud can be found here.

Source of this month’s scam information:

CrowdStrike:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/19/24201864/crowdstrike-outage-explained-microsoft-windows-bsod

Elder abuse scams:
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/losangeles/news/fbi-releases-2023-elder-fraud-report-with-tech-support-scams-generating-the-most-complaints-and-investment-scams-proving-the-costliest

Pig butchering scams:
https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.20491.html